“He tried not to be selfish, but he has felt rather forlorn, I fancy.  This is just the time, Meg, when young married people are apt to grow apart, and the very time when they ought to be most together, for the first tenderness soon wears off, unless care is taken to preserve it.  And no time is so beautiful and precious to parents as the first years of the little lives given to them to train.  Don’t let John be a stranger to the babies, for they will do more to keep him safe and happy in this world of trial and temptation than anything else, and through them you will learn to know and love one another as you should.  Now, dear, good-by.  Think over Mother’s preachment, act upon it if it seems good, and God bless you all.”

Meg did think it over, found it good, and acted upon it, though the first attempt was not made exactly as she planned to have it.  Of course the children tyrannized over her, and ruled the house as soon as they found out that kicking and squalling brought them whatever they wanted.  Mamma was an abject slave to their caprices, but Papa was not so easily subjugated, and occasionally afflicted his tender spouse by an attempt at paternal discipline with his obstreperous son.  For Demi inherited a trifle of his sire’s firmness of character, we won’t call it obstinacy, and when he made up his little mind to have or to do anything, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not change that pertinacious little mind.  Mamma thought the dear too young to be taught to conquer his prejudices, but Papa believed that it never was too soon to learn obedience.  So Master Demi early discovered that when he undertook to ‘wrastle’ with ‘Parpar’, he always got the worst of it, yet like the Englishman, baby respected the man who conquered him, and loved the father whose grave “No, no,” was more impressive than all Mamma’s love pats.

A few days after the talk with her mother, Meg resolved to try a social evening with John, so she ordered a nice supper, set the parlor in order, dressed herself prettily, and put the children to bed early, that nothing should interfere with her experiment.  But unfortunately Demi’s most unconquerable prejudice was against going to bed, and that night he decided to go on a rampage.  So poor Meg sang and rocked, told stories and tried every sleep-prevoking wile she could devise, but all in vain, the big eyes wouldn’t shut, and long after Daisy had gone to byelow, like the chubby little bunch of good nature she was, naughty Demi lay staring at the light, with the most discouragingly wide-awake expression of countenance.

“Will Demi lie still like a good boy, while Mamma runs down and gives poor Papa his tea?” asked Meg, as the hall door softly closed, and the well-known step went tip-toeing into the dining room.

“Me has tea!” said Demi, preparing to join in the revel.

“No, but I’ll save you some little cakies for breakfast, if you’ll go bye-bye like Daisy.  Will you, lovey?”