"St! St! At it! At it!" chuckled the hot-tempered gentleman in undertones. And when he said this, it seemed as if the voices of Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj rose higher in matrimonial repartee, and the children's squabbles became louder, and the dog yelped as if he were mad, and the maids' contest was sharper; whilst the snap-dragon flames leaped up and up, and blue fire flew about the room like foam. At last the raisins were finished, the flames were all put out, and the company withdrew to the drawing-room. Only Harry lingered. "Come along, Harry," said the hot-tempered gentleman. "Wait a minute," said Harry. "You had better come," said the gentleman. "Why?" said Harry. "There's nothing to stop for. The raisins are eaten, the brandy is burnt out----" "No, it's not," said Harry. "Well, almost. It would be better if it were quite out. Now come. It's dangerous for a boy like you to be alone with the Snap-Dragons to-night." "Fiddle-sticks!" said Harry. "Go your own way, then!" said the hot-tempered gentleman; and he bounced out of the room, and Harry was left alone. DANCING WITH THE DRAGONS. He crept up to the table, where one little pale blue flame flickered in the snap-dragon dish. "What a pity it should go out!" said Harry. At this moment the brandy bottle on the side-board caught his eye. "Just a little more," murmured Harry to himself; and he uncorked the bottle, and poured a little brandy on to the flame. Now of course, as soon as the brandy touched the fire, all the brandy in the bottle blazed up at once, and the bottle split to pieces; and it was very fortunate for Harry that he did not get seriously hurt. A little of the hot brandy did get into his eyes, and made them smart, so that he had to shut them for a few seconds. But when he opened them again, what a sight he saw! All over the room the blue flames leaped and danced as they had leaped and danced in the soup-plate with the raisins. And Harry saw that each successive flame was the fold in the long body of a bright blue Dragon, which moved like the body of a snake. And the room was full of these Dragons. In the face they were like the dragons one sees made of very old blue and white china; and they had forked tongues, like the tongues of serpents. They were most beautiful in color, being sky-blue. Lobsters who have just changed their coats are very handsome, but the violet and indigo of a lobster's coat is nothing to the brilliant sky-blue of a Snap-Dragon.