CONTENTS.
| [CHAPTER I.] | The table-cloth is spread |
| [CHAPTER II.] | Mr. Givemfits and Dr. Butterfield |
| [CHAPTER III.] | A growler soothed |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | Carlo and the freezer |
| [CHAPTER V.] | Old games repeated |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | The full-blooded cow |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | The dregs in Leatherback's tea-cup |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | The hot axle |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | Beefsteak for ministers |
| [CHAPTER X.] | Autobiography of an old pair of scissors |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | A lie, zoologically considered |
| [CHAPTER XII.] | A breath of English air |
| [CHAPTER XIII.] | The midnight lecture |
| [CHAPTER XIV.] | The sexton |
| [CHAPTER XV.] | The old cradle |
| [CHAPTER XVI.] | The horse's letter |
| [CHAPTER XVII.] | Kings of the kennel |
| [CHAPTER XVIII.] | The massacre of church music |
| [CHAPTER XIX.] | The battle of pew and pulpit |
| [CHAPTER XX.] | The devil's grist-mill |
| [CHAPTER XXI.] | The conductor's dream |
| [CHAPTER XXII.] | Push & Pull |
| [CHAPTER XXIII.] | Bostonians |
| [CHAPTER XXIV.] | Jonah vs. the whale |
| [CHAPTER XXV.] | Something under the sofa |
| [CHAPTER XXVI.] | The way to keep fresh |
| [CHAPTER XXVII.] | Christmas bells |
| [CHAPTER XXVIII.] | Poor preaching |
| [CHAPTER XXIX.] | Shelves a man's index |
| [CHAPTER XXX.] | Behavior at church |
| [CHAPTER XXXI.] | Masculine and feminine |
| [CHAPTER XXXII.] | Literary felony |
| [CHAPTER XXXIII.] | Literary abstinence |
| [CHAPTER XXXIV.] | Short or long pastorates |
| [CHAPTER XXXV.] | An editor's chip basket |
| [CHAPTER XXXVI.] | The manhood of service |
| [CHAPTER XXXVII.] | Balky people |
| [CHAPTER XXXVIII.] | Anonymous letters |
| [CHAPTER XXXIX.] | Brawn or brain |
| [CHAPTER XL.] | Warm-weather religion |
| [CHAPTER XLI.] | Hiding eggs for Easter |
| [CHAPTER XLII.] | Sink or swim |
| [CHAPTER XLIII.] | Shells from the beach |
| [CHAPTER XLIV.] | Catching the bay mare |
| [CHAPTER XLV.] | Our first and last cigar |
| [CHAPTER XLVI.] | Move, moving, moved |
| [CHAPTER XLVII.] | The advantage of small libraries |
| [CHAPTER XLVIII.] | Reformation in letter writing |
| [CHAPTER XLIX.] | Royal marriages |
| [CHAPTER L.] | Three visits |
| [CHAPTER LI.] | Manahachtanienks |
| [CHAPTER LII.] | A dip in the sea |
| [CHAPTER LIII.] | Hard shell considerations |
| [CHAPTER LIV.] | Wiseman, Heavyasbricks and Quizzle |
| [CHAPTER LV.] | A layer of waffles |
| [CHAPTER LVI.] | Friday evening |
| [SABBATH EVENING TEA-TABLE.] | |
| [CHAPTER LVIII.] | The Sabbath evening tea-table |
| [CHAPTER LIX.] | The warm heart of Christ |
| [CHAPTER LX.] | Sacrifice everything |
| [CHAPTER LXI.] | The youngsters have left |
| [CHAPTER LXII.] | Family prayers |
| [CHAPTER LXIII.] | A call to sailors |
| [CHAPTER LXIV.] | Jehoshaphat's shipping |
| [CHAPTER LXV.] | All about mercy |
| [CHAPTER LXVI.] | Under the camel's saddle |
| [CHAPTER LXVII.] | Half-and-half churches |
| [CHAPTER LXVIII.] | Who touched me? |
AROUND THE TEA-TABLE.
CHAPTER I.
THE TABLE-CLOTH IS SPREAD.
Our theory has always been, "Eat lightly in the evening." While, therefore, morning and noon there is bountifulness, we do not have much on our tea-table but dishes and talk. The most of the world's work ought to be finished by six o'clock p.m. The children are home from school. The wife is done mending or shopping. The merchant has got through with dry-goods or hardware. Let the ring of the tea-bell be sharp and musical. Walk into the room fragrant with Oolong or Young Hyson. Seat yourself at the tea-table wide enough apart to have room to take out your pocket-handkerchief if you want to cry at any pitiful story of the day, or to spread yourself in laughter if some one propound an irresistible conundrum.