“No; but we are not the less overjoyed on that account. And of course you must stay and dine with us.” “Of course. I told the waiter so,” laughed the colonel. “Now, dear Mrs. Seymour and darling Nanny, you must both come up with Drusilla and myself to our rooms to take off your bonnets,” said Anna, rising and conducting her visitors from the room. At a sign from the General, Dick went down-stairs to order some necessary additions to their dinner, in honor of their guests. “Now, old friend, tell me what put it into your head to cross the ocean and give me this great pleasure?” inquired General Lyon, when he found himself alone with his neighbor. “Example,” answered Colonel Seymour;—“nothing but example. You and your family left the neighborhood to go to Europe. And I and mine were very lonesome, I can tell you, after you were all gone. So one day I up and said to my wife: “‘Polly, if we are ever to see the Old World, we had as well see it now as at another time. We are not growing younger, Polly. Indeed I sometimes fancy we are growing older.’ “‘Why, la, Benny,’ she said, ‘can’t you live and die like your fathers without leaving your own country?’ “So I answered right up and down: “‘No, Polly, I cannot. And as we _must_ go to Europe some time, to show it to our girl, if for no other reason, we can’t choose a better time than this when our old neighbors are over there. We’ll go and join them and have a good time.’ “Well, upon the whole, Polly didn’t dislike the idea of the trip; and as for Nancy, she was all for it. So we up and came.” “You must have decided and acted with great promptitude to be over here so soon after us.” “Didn’t we, though! We set the house in order the next day, which was Tuesday; packed up Wednesday, went to New York Thursday, and sailed for Liverpool on Saturday.” “What! and had not previously engaged berths in your steamer?” “No; didn’t know that was necessary until I went into the agent’s office. And then it was by a stroke of luck we got the rooms. A family who were going out by that steamer that day were unavoidably delayed, and had to give up their berths. And I engaged them.” “Well, certainly, you were more lucky than you knew.” “Yes, ‘a fool for luck,’ it is said.” “Well, now, neighbor, shall we follow the example of the ladies and go to my dressing-room to refresh our toilets? As for myself, I have been poking into the vaults and dungeons of the Tower, and I feel as if I were covered with the dust of ages!” “Yes, and I am just as unbearable with railway smoke and cinders.” “Come, then,” said the General, rising and conducting his visitor to his own apartment. Half an hour afterwards, all the friends assembled in the parlor, where the table was laid for dinner.