Mrs. Westley Keyts, the bars being down, thereupon began another parrot story. But Miss Eubanks, who had observed that all parrot stories have "damn" in them, suddenly conceived that matters had gone far enough in _that_ direction. Affecting not to have heard Mrs. Keyts's opening of "A returned missionary made a gift of a parrot to two elderly maiden ladies--" Marcella led the would-be anecdotist to the punch-bowl, and, under the cover of operations there, spoke to her in an undertone. Mrs. Keyts said that the thing had been printed right out on the funny page of "Hearth and Home," but over the cup of punch that Marcella pressed upon her, she consented to forego it on account of the minister's wife being present. There were other anecdotes, however; not of a parrot character, but chiefly of funny sayings of the little ones at home. Mrs. Judge Robinson, with the artistic mendacity of your true _raconteur_, accredited to her own four-year-old a speech about the stars being holes in the floor of heaven, although it was said of this gem in "Harper's Drawer," where she had read it, that "the following good one comes to us from a lady subscriber in the well-known city of X----." It could not be recalled afterwards how, from this harmless exchange, they had come to be listening to passages from the adventurous life of Childe Harold, read crisply by their hostess. Still less could the ladies later comprehend how some of their number had been guilty of innuendos--or worse--against the well-known Bard of Avon. Yet, so it was. Miss Caroline herself had refrained from abusing him--had seemed to have forgotten him, indeed; but, as she read Byron to them, their hearts opened to her--rushed out, indeed, with a friendly wholeness that demanded something more than mere cordial applause of her favorite poet. Some intimation of a sympathy with her view of the other poet came to seem not ungraceful. During one of the reader's pauses to impress upon them the splendors of the Byronic imagery, and eke its human heart-warmth, good Aunt Delia, with defiant looks about the circle, broke in with:-- "I shouldn't wonder if Shakspere _has_ been made too much over." Mrs. Keyts stepped loyally into the breach thus effected. "Westley thinks Shakspere isn't such an _awful_ good book," she said, feeling her way, "though it seems to me it has some very interesting and excellent pieces in it." "Shakspere is _ver-ry_ uneven," remarked Mrs. Judge Robinson, in a tone of dignified concession. "There is always a word to be said on either side of these matters--there is undeniably room for controversy." Thus Mrs. Potts, in her best manner of authority, from the punch-bowl. "Let the dead rest!" gently murmured Miss Eubanks, from her dreamy corner of the biggest sofa. Her inflection was archly significant. One had to suspect that Shakspere, alive and a fair target for dispraise, might have learned something to his advantage if not to his delight.