But to return to Atlantic. I went to
him when the clock struck, only to discover that he had broken in the
circles of isinglass round the body of the coal-stove, removed the
ashes with a book, got the dampers out of order, and taken the doors
off the hinges! I am sure Mrs. Grubb is right to keep them on bread-
and-milk and apple-sauce; a steady diet of beef and mutton would give
them a simply unconquerable energy. Oh, laugh as you may, I could
never have lived through the ordeal if it hadn't been for the young
minister!'
'Do you mean that he became interested in the twins?'
'Oh, yes!--very deeply interested. You have heard me speak of him:
it was Mr. Fielding.'
'Why, Rhoda, he was the last summer's minister, the one who preached
at the sea-shore.'
'Certainly; but he was only supplying a pulpit there; now he has his
own parish. He is taking up a course of child-study, and asked me if
he was at liberty to use the twins for psychological observations. I
assented most gratefully, thinking, you know, that he couldn't study
them unless he kept them with him a good deal; but he counted without
his host, as you can imagine. He lives at the hotel until his
cottage is finished, and the first thing I knew he had hired a stout
nursemaid as his contribution to the service of humanity.
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