Now, you must expect, as they all died of grief, that lots of angels must have come to take _them_ away. Freddy _will_ go when the sermon isn't over! That _is_ such a bother!" At this point Marion paused in her reading, and resumed the narrative form. "Freddy, however, was too much for them; so Ernest betook himself to the organ, which was a chest of drawers, the drawers doing duty as stops, while Freddy went up to the pulpit to say 'Good-by,' and shake hands, for which he was mildly reproved by both his brothers." My husband and I were so much amused, that Marion said she had another sermon, also preached by Charles, on the same day, after a short interval; and at our request she read it. Here it is. "Once upon a time--a long while ago, in a little--Ready now?--Well, there lived in a rather big house, with _quite_ clean windows: it was in winter, so nobody noticed them, but they were quite _white_, they were so clean. There lived some angels in the house: it was in the air, nobody knew why, but it did. No: I don't think it did--I dunno, but there lived in it lots of children--two hundred and thirty-two--and they--Oh! I'm gettin' distracted! It is too bad!" (_Quiet is restored._) "Their mother and father had died, but they were very rich. Now, you see what a heap of children,--two hundred and thirty-two! and yet it seemed like _one_ to them, they were so rich. _That_ was it! it seemed like _one_ to them because they were so rich. Now, the children knew what to get, and I'll explain to you now _why_ they knew; and _this_ is how they knew. The angels came down on the earth, and told them their mother had sent messages to them; and their mother and father--_Don't_ talk! I'm gettin' extracted!" (_Puts his hand to his head in a frenzied manner._) "Now, my brother" (_This severely to a still inattentive member_), "I'll tell you what the angels told them--what to get. What--how--now I will tell you how,--yes, _how_ they knew what they were to eat. Well, the fact was, that--Freddy's just towards my face, and he's laughing! I'm going to explain. The mother and father had the wings on, and so, of course--Ernest, I want you!" (_They whisper._)--"they were he and she angels, and they told them what to have. Well, one thing was--shall I tell you what it was? Look at two hundred and two in another book--one thing was a leg of mutton. Of course, as the mother and father were angels, they had to fly up again. Now I'm going to explain how they got it done. They had four servants and one cook, so that would be five. Well, this cook did them. The eldest girl was sixteen, and her name was Snowdrop, because she had snowy arms and cheeks, and was a very nice girl. The eldest boy was seventeen, and his name was John. He always told the cook what they'd have--no, the girl did that. And the boy was now grown up. So they would be mother and father." (_Signs of dissent among the audience._) "_Of course_, when they were so old, they would be