Mrs. Hope.  Well, if I couldn’t sew at your age, Peachey, without pricking my fingers!  Tom, if I have Mr. Lever here, you’ll just attend to what I say and look into that mine!

Colonel.  Look into your grandmother!  I have n’t made a study of geology for nothing.  For every ounce you take out of a gold mine, you put an ounce and a half in.  Any fool knows that, eh, Peachey?

Miss beech.  I hate your horrid mines, with all the poor creatures underground.

Mrs. Hope.  Nonsense, Peachey!  As if they’d go there if they did n’t want to!

Colonel.  Why don’t you read your paper, then you’d see what a lot of wild-cat things there are about.

Mrs. Hope. [Abstractedly.] I can’t put Ernest and Letty in the blue room, there’s only the single bed.  Suppose I put Mr. Lever there, and say nothing about the earwigs.  I daresay he’ll never notice.

Colonel.  Treat a guest like that!

Mrs. Hope.  Then where am I to put him for goodness sake?

Colonel.  Put him in my dressing-room, I’ll turn out.

Mrs. Hope.  Rubbish, Tom, I won’t have you turned out, that’s flat. 
He can have Joy’s room, and she can sleep with the earwigs.

Joy. [From her hiding-place upon a lower branch of the hollow tree.]
I won’t.

     [Mrs. Hope and the colonel jump.]

Colonel.  God bless my soul!

Mrs. Hope.  You wretched girl!  I told you never to climb that tree again.  Did you know, Peachey? [Miss beech smiles.] She’s always up there, spoiling all her frocks.  Come down now, Joy; there’s a good child!

Joy.  I don’t want to sleep with earwigs, Aunt Nell.

Miss beech.  I’ll sleep with the poor creatures.

Mrs. Hope, [After a pause.] Well, it would be a mercy if you would for once, Peachey.

Colonel.  Nonsense, I won’t have Peachey——­

Mrs. Hope.  Well, who is to sleep there then?

Joy. [Coaxingly.] Let me sleep with Mother, Aunt Nell, do!

Mrs. Hope.  Litter her up with a great girl like you, as if we’d only one spare room!  Tom, see that she comes down—­I can’t stay here, I must manage something. [She goes away towards the house.]

Colonel. [Moving to the tree, and looking up.] You heard what your aunt said?

Joy. [Softly.] Oh, Uncle Tom!

Colonel.  I shall have to come up after you.

Joy.  Oh, do, and Peachey too!

Colonel. [Trying to restrain a smile.] Peachey, you talk to her. [Without waiting for miss beech, however, he proceeds.] What’ll your aunt say to me if I don’t get you down?