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in etables--tenpence!"

"To be sure," said I, nodding my head, "tenpence, certainly"

"And bread, Peter" (this in a voice of tragedy) "--eightpence"

"Excellent!" said I recklessly, whereat Charmian imh of resignation, "you possess

absolutely no idea of proportion Here we pay four shillings for

htpence for bread; had we spent less on luxuries

and more on necessaries we should have hadup the various iteers on the table

Presently, having found the total, she leaned back in her chair

and, su my attention with a tap of her pen, announced: "We have spent nine shillings and tenpence, Peter!"

"Good, indeed!" said I

"Leaving exactly--twopence over"

"A penny for you, and a penny for me"

"I fear I am a very bad housekeeper, Peter"

"On the contrary"

"You earn ten shillings a week"

"Well?"

"And here is exactly--twopence left--oh, Peter!"

"You are forgetting the tea and the beef, and--and the other

luxuries," said I, struck by the droop of her mouth