CHAPTER I. 



A GREAT INSTITUTION. 



"!T is a great irritation," I said, or rather thought 

 aloud, one beautiful summer morning, as my wife was dress- 

 ing the baby. The little thing lay upon its face across her 

 lap, paddling and kicking with its little bare arms and legs, 

 as such little people are very apt to do, while being dressed. 

 It was not our baby. We have dispensed with that luxury. 

 And yet it was a sweet little thing, and nestled as closely in 

 our hearts as if it were our own. It was our first grand- 

 child, the beginning of a third generation, so that there is 

 small danger of our name becoming extinct. A friend of 

 mine, who unfortunately has no voice for song, has a most 

 excellent wifS and beautiful baby, and cannot therefore be 

 said to be without music at home. It is his first descendant, 

 and everybody knows that such are just the things of which 



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