Sally hastily put aside her work, and kneeling by baby's side stooped and kissed her. Seth, who had risen in search of a book, looked down upon the children. "Don't you forget, Sally, what I said about you're going off in a trance. No, no, Sally!" he cried, putting his hand to his side to restrain his merriment; "not now. Don't you go fainting dead away now; we've got something else to do." "I wasn't going to, Daddy," said Sally timorously, and with something like a blush on her thin, sallow face. "Bravo, Sally; there's some lessons you know without being able to read--to tell the truth when it's necessary, and to tell the other thing when it's necessary. You little sinner, you! You've the gumption of twenty grown-up women in that little carcase of yours. Here's a book with large print. It belonged to my mother." He brought forward a great heavy quarto with old broken clasps, and opened it. "I shall read out loud the first few words and then you shall learn the letters one by one. Keep your eyes and your mind open and come closer." So saying, Seth, taking the forefinger of Sally's right hand as a marker, read slowly the words, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." CHAPTER XII. Seth Dumbrick never raised his eyes from his work the next morning when Sally Chester, who had been standing silently by his side for full five minutes, suddenly said: "Pharer come agin last night, Daddy." "I thought he would, Sally." "'Baby must have a name given to her,' says Pharer, and it's got to be done proper.' 'What name?' says I. 'I don't know,' says Pharer----" "Not much of a spirit," murmured Seth; "not by any means what I should call a tiptop spirit." "'There's only one man,' says Pharer," continued Sally, somewhat discomposed, "'as can give baby a proper name, and that man's Daddy Dumbrick.'" "Oh, oh!" exclaimed Seth. "He knows my new title already." "Spirits know everythink," observed Sally oracularly. "Then Pharer takes me downstairs. And it's night, and there's more than one candle alight; and the fish in the quarian is swimming about, wide awake, salamanders and all; and there's a party." Seth gave a long, soft whistle. "That's a mistake, Sally. There couldn't be a party." "There was," said Sally positively. "Men and women?" "No; boys and gals." "Ah, ah! That's bad enough, but it's better than t'other." "There was Jane Preedy, and Betsy Newbiggin, and Ann Taylor, and Jimmy Platt, and a lot more, all dressed out; and there was baby dressed out splendider than all of 'em put together, and there was me, and you." "What was I doing?" "You was giving baby a name. 'And mind,' says Pharer, baby's a little lady, and she's got to have a grand name, better than mine, or your'n, or anybody else's.'" "When was this party given, Sally?" "The party was given next Monday," replied Sally in utter defiance of all natural rules and laws, "next Monday as ever was."