THE LAKE SHORE DIVERSION 109 



Ladies, cross your lily-white hand ; 

 Gents, your black- and- tan. 



I asked the man who works for me what he thought 

 about it the next day, and he was contemptuous, 

 not to say severe, in his judgment. 



" 'Twas poor callm'-orT. He was hard to hear. 

 Not much to say. It was no sort of calling-off. 

 His ticket and supper was quite enough for the likes 

 of him ; they paid him three dollars, and he had no 

 call to take the money." 



Christmas is an honoured and festive season in 

 Canada, and was especially observed at the Milling- 

 tons'. The girls came back from their convent, and 

 Christmas Eve was penetrated with that atmosphere 

 of surprise without which no great occasion seems 

 complete in Canada. The only son, a youth at 

 college, was brought back for a week's holiday, 

 smuggled into the house and carefully concealed 

 until he popped up as a kind of Jack-in-the-box in 

 the small hours of Christmas morning. At four 

 o'clock I heard whispers in my dreams at five 

 shouts at six I discovered a series of unexpected 

 presents, a box of the most fascinating chocolates 

 from my host and hostess, charming trifles from the 

 girls, a monster blotting-pad from Miss Lister ; and 

 the respectable end of these early diversions was 

 that the Clyst party was most unusually punctual 

 at church. 



In the evening the vicar dined with us. The table 

 was charmingly decorated. The huge turkey was 

 brought in by Heriot Hylton-Cave, looking a little 

 bit cross in his immaculate evening suit, and 

 followed by Miss Lister, who carried the vegetable 



