"Marion," he said, sternly, "stop that at once, or I shall take you from the table and punish you soundly."
He experienced a feeling of profound satisfaction in being able to thus reprove when it was necessary and glanced across the table expecting to see a very demure little miss. Instead, Marion and her little brother exchanged glances and then simultaneously a grin overspread their faces, while Marion said in a mirthful tone:
"Oh, Francis, hear father trying to talk like mother!"
Robert has lately acquired a stepmother. Hoping to win his affection this new parent has been very lenient with him, while his father, feeling his responsibility, has been unusually strict. The boys of the neighborhood, who had taken pains to warn Robert of the terrible character of stepmothers in general, recently waited on him in a body, and the following conversation was overheard:
"How do you like your stepmother, Bob?"
"Like her! Why fellers, I just love her. All I wish is I had a stepfather, too."
"Well, Bobby, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
BOBBY (remembering private seance in the wood-shed)—"A orphan."