the clock struck, only to discover that he had broken in the circles of isinglass round the body of the coal-stove, removed the ashes with a book, got the dampers out of order, and taken the doors off the hinges! I am sure Mrs. Grubb is right to keep them on bread and milk and apple sauce; a steady diet of beef and mutton would give them a simply unconquerable energy. Oh, laugh as you may, I could never have lived through the ordeal if it hadn’t been for the young minister!"
"Do you mean that he became interested in the twins?"
"Oh, yes!—very deeply interested. You have heard me speak of him: it was Mr. Fielding."
"Why, Rhoda, he was the last summer’s minister, the one who preached at the seashore."
"Certainly; but he was only supplying a pulpit there; now he has his own parish. He is taking up a course of child-study, and asked me if he was at liberty to use the twins for psychological observations. I assented most gratefully, thinking, you know, that he couldn’t study them unless he kept them with him a good deal; but he
