' Think of your own remarkable mother, my boys," said
Mr. Tetterby, "and know her value while she is still among you!"
He sat down again in his chair by the fire, and composed himself,
cross-legged, over his newspaper.
"Let anybody, I don't care who it is, get out of bed again," said
Tetterby, as a general proclamation, delivered in a very soft-
hearted manner, "and astonishment will be the portion of that
respected contemporary!" - which expression Mr. Tetterby selected
from his screen. "Johnny, my child, take care of your only sister,
Sally; for she's the brightest gem that ever sparkled on your early
brow."
Johnny sat down on a little stool, and devotedly crushed himself
beneath the weight of Moloch.
"Ah, what a gift that baby is to you, Johnny!" said his father,
"and how thankful you ought to be! 'It is not generally known,
Johnny,'" he was now referring to the screen again, "'but it is a
fact ascertained, by accurate calculations, that the following
immense percentage of babies never attain to two years old; that is
to say - '"
"Oh, don't, father, please!" cried Johnny. "I can't bear it, when
I think of Sally."
Mr. Tetterby desisting, Johnny, with a profound sense of his trust,
wiped his eyes, and hushed his sister.
"Your brother 'Dolphus," said his father, poking the fire, "is late
to-night, Johnny, and will come home like a lump of ice.
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