Page:Lesbia Newman - Dalton - 1889.djvu/46

 skin and bone which did duty for a head to the little creature, Mrs Guineabush whispered to her husband,—

‘Couldn’t you let her have it, Arthur? she seems to have taken such a violent fancy to it.’

‘Well, Miss Newman,’ said he, ‘forasmuch as this pup will certainly be swallowed alive by you if I attempt to keep him in my possession, I therefore ask you and say, ‘Wilt thou take this pup, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health—joking apart, will you make him your constant companion all his life, and never part with him, even to your dearest friend?’

‘All this I steadfastly promise,’ responded Lesbia, but doubtful whether it was really meant.

‘Then I pronounce that you be mistress and dog together, in the name of the Three Graces.’

‘A gift! Really that is too good of you, Mr Guineabush,’ answered Lesbia, delighted. ‘It sha’n’t be for want of care on my part, if anything ever happens to the little darling.’

‘You don’t need me to tell you, by the way,’ said Mr Guineabush, ‘that a bulldog can never keep up with a bicycle. You have considered that point, I suppose?’

‘Certainly; for the matter of that, I don’t think a dog of any kind should habitually go out with a bicycle; they endanger both yourself and other bicyclists. He will be my companion when I’m not riding.’

They now went in to luncheon. As they crossed the flower-garden to the front door, the guests were startled at hearing a gruff voice call from an upper window,—

‘Kiss my claw! Kiss my claw!’

‘That absurd parrot!’ said Mrs Guineabush, while the others tittered. ‘He’s really a clever bird, Miss Newman—I suppose I may call you Lesbia now. Some of the things he says are so àpropos of the conversation around him, that I really believe he understands both what he hears and what