“Ha! ha! ha-a-a-a!” roared the major, shouting her ladyship down, and stamping about the garden in fits of fond paternal laughter. “Bill, my boy, how are you? There’s a young Turk for you! Pull up his frock—I want to see his jolly legs——”
Lady Malkinshaw screamed and rushed to the door. I sank into a chair, and clasped my hands in despair.
“Ha! ha! ha-a-a-a! What calves the dog’s got! Pamby! look at his calves. Aha! bless his heart, his legs are the model of his father’s! The Namby build, Matilda; the Namby build, every inch of him! Kick again, Bill—kick out, like mad. I say, ma’am! I beg your pardon, ma’am——”
Ma’am? I ran to the window. Was the major actually daring to address Lady Malkinshaw, as she passed indignantly, on her way out, down my front garden? He was! The odious monster was pointing out his—his, what shall I say?—his undraped offspring to the notice of my outraged visitor.
“Look at him, ma’am. If you’re a judge of children, look at him. There’s a two-year-older for you! Ha! ha! ha-a-a-a! Show the lady your legs, Bill—kick out for the lady, you dog, kick out!”
THE WORLD’S MOST REMARKABLE STREETS.
While Europe Has the Most Aristocratic, the Cleanest, and the Most Beautiful, the United States Has the Highest and the Most Wealthy.
There is always interest in the superlative. The biggest things, the smallest things, the ugliest and the most graceful are important only when compared with the rest of their kind. Every city in the world has its attractive roads and streets as well as its ugly ones.
The highest street in the world is Main Street, In Denver; the richest is Fifth Avenue, in New York City; the widest is Market Street, in Philadelphia; and the shortest is the Rue Blé in Paris.
The dirtiest street is that of Tchangsti, in Nankin; the cleanest is the Via Castile, in Seville, Spain; the most aristocratic one is Grosvenor Place, in London; the most beautiful is the Avenue des Champs Elysées, Paris. The narrowest street is the Via Sol, Havana, Cuba, which has a width of only forty-two inches.