Three generations

A WAGER 91
" Not a doubt of it," admitted the unabashed Merry
Andrew cheerfully. " The truth is so unmistakable
that you will not mind wagering us four a dinner here
at your expense any day we like to fix upon, should
Mrs. Stark forget herself in the way I have mentioned.
Remember, there is a temptation ; cream is unco rich
and sweet."
" Done, against my mother's forgetting herself in the
way you suggest," cried the deeply aggrieved son.
" I should not mind wagering a dozen dinners, so
sure am I that no lady would be guilty of such a low,
childish trick."
From that moment the watchers glued their noses
to the window-panes, and gazed in breathless excite-
ment at the trial about to occur in the opposite house.
Only Mr. Stark chose to exhibit contemptuous care-
lessness.
Carefully and calmly the innocent old lady ended
her pleasant task. Then, alas ! the seduction of the
rich, sweet cream proved too much for her. She
raised the spoon when her work was completed and
put it quickly into her mouth.
The movement was hailed with such a shout of delight
from the window of the Sun Tavern that it echoed
across the garden and smote the ears of the victim,
who, dropping the spoon, stood in open-eyed wonder
at the clamour.
These were the years in which the Wizard of the
North was weaving his spells, making a sensation in
households greater than was ever known before in its
peaceful Victory. The town bookseller did a profit-
able trade in retaining a few copies of the last pub-
lished Waverley Novel, which he lent out at sixpence
the volume per night. My father sat late, entranced