“Hicketty-hick!” again, more heartily than at first, with the baby encore, “Adin!” The same process awakens the rapturous little pearls again and again, and you are quite in the spirit of the thing yourself.  Now for a more ecstatic burst.  You purposely prolong his suspense; he is all atilt, expecting the delightful surprise.  You drawl out each word; you drone the ditty over and over again, till every tiny nerve is tense with expectation.  “Boo!” at last, and over he goes, in the complete abandon of baby glee; his cherry lips are wide asunder, his head hangs powerless back, and the “Hicketty-hicks” burst tumultuously from his little, beating throat.  And you, sir; what are you doing?  Laughing, I declare, in full roar, till the tears run down your cheeks.  You catch the boy in your arms, toss him, almost throttle him with kisses, and so enhance the merry spasms, that mamma, who has a philosophical instinct with regard to excited nerves, and dreads the reaction, comes to the rescue.

Let me introduce you to another effective laughter.  You shall not hear a sound, yet you cannot choose but laugh, if she does, quiet as she is about it.  See how her shoulders shake,—­and look at her face!  Every feature is instinct with mirth; the color mounts to the roots of the hair; the curls vibrate; the eyes sparkle through tears; the white teeth glisten; the very nose and ears seem to take a part; like Nourmahal, she “laughs all over,” and while you wonder what the joke may be, you are laughing too.

Do you feel dismal, or anxious?  You should hear L. tell a story.  She is one of the very few who can undertake with impunity to talk and laugh at the same time.  Look and listen, while she describes some comic occurrence.  There is no unladylike, boisterous noise, but musical peals of laughter come thick and fast; and faster and thicker, preternaturally fast and thick, come the words with them.  And yet each word is distinct; you do not lose a syllable.  And I should like to see the man who can resist her, if she chooses he should laugh, even at his own expense.

There is an odd sort of power, too, in the gravity with which B. tells a humorous anecdote.  He invariably maintains a sober face while every body is in an agony of laughter around him.  Just as it begins to subside, the echo of his own wit comes back to him, and, as if he had just caught the idea, he bursts into one little abrupt explosion, so genuine, so full of heartiness, that it sets every body off upon a fresh score.

Nothing so melts away reserve among strangers, nothing so quickly develops the affinities in chance society, as laughter.  A person might be ever so polite, and even kind, and talk sentiment a whole day, and it would not draw me so near to him as the mutual enjoyment of one heartfelt laugh.  It is a perfect bond of union; for the time being, you have but one soul between you.

TO STEPHEN.