"No--the Colonel's." For the Colonel is allowed to do all the christening in that Regiment: for that is one of the rules. And Goliath, the elephant, was one of his; and so was little Marwy, the regimental baa-lamb. Then Tiny, and Baby, and Baby's mother came to the Village. And the Village was made up of Cosy Cottage, and the red pillar-box opposite; and that is all: for the villages are just a nice size in That Country. And Cosy Cottage looked delicious under creepers, with sparrows chattering. And it was long, and low, and grey, and not unlike Methuselah, with a rather broken-back look, and one crooked chimney for ear. And there was one window behind and two before, with a porch between, and roses sprawling over all. And in front was a little grass garden, with a lilac and a yew hedge round, and a gate made of paling into the road; and at the back a tiny yard and a boot-hole[1] like a box. [1] A boot-hole is a little place where you clean boots. And it belonged to the King, as all the houses do in That Country, because that saves trouble; and it went with the Fort on the Hill. And when Baby saw that, she hopped, and whispered, "Oh, Mother!" because she loved it so. And baby's mother chuckled and said, "Yes, you _are_ a lucky child." But Tiny said nothing, and took all the glory instead, which was rather a favourite thing of Tiny's, and quite a lie; for he'd done nothing for it. All the same it was very curious that when Baby was with Tiny he told the truth on the whole much more, and kept all his lies for the Fellows. And the more he was with her the more truth he told: so that it almost looked as though, if he went on long enough, he would never tell a lie, to call one, any more. And that is what they call Influence. And nobody knows quite what Influence is, but it's what women do. So you see it's rather jolly to be a woman, because if you're a man you can't, though you think you can, because of conceit. Then they led Baby's mother into the house. And after they had fed her, they took her and put her on a little chair in a quiet cupboard by herself, and locked her in; and she was to be good-and-go-to-sleep till they came for her. And that pleased Baby's mother so that she smiled. 8 Then Baby yelled and ran upstairs; and Tiny yelled, and ran after her; till they came to the topmost stair of all. And Baby put her head out and cried, "I say! this is tip-top!" which was a very favourite saying of Baby's. And Tiny came up behind her and murmured, "This is tip-topper!" for lovers are lovers just the same in That Country, only nicer. So Baby went with her arms, and squealed, "Tiny! Tinee!" Then she ran downstairs as hard as she could pelt; and Tiny ran after her, as hard as he could pelt. And Baby's mother, who couldn't be good-and-go-to-sleep because of the racket, woke up, and climbed out of the cupboard, and ran after Tiny as hard as she could pelt.