Mr. Jordan ate very little of the robust foods that were spread before him in such profusion; but the goddess, who so miraculously had been confided to his care, behaved before these viands with wonderful vigour, resolution and success. It was far from Mr. Jordan’s province to marvel that a goddess should eat so much, or with such an absence of delicacy, but marvel he did at the catholicity of a taste that could deal so faithfully with meats of this sort, which in no sense seemed to compare with her native nectar and ambrosia. A spasmodic flicker of gaiety was imparted to the company by the toasts and speeches. Police-Sergeant Dodson, in referring in appropriate terms to an event which concerned the scion of his house very nearly, “hoped Jimmy, who was a good boy, would make a better man than his father.” “Taken as read, old cock,” interposed Mr. Dodson _fils_. In the course of the reply made by Mr. Dodson _fils_ to the toast of his own health and that of his _fiancée_, he testified with a _bonhomie_ that was most engaging, and in terms of great felicity, to the pleasure derived by all present from the presence of everybody else. By the time the feasting and toasting had been conducted to an issue that was more or less happy--in spite of the pall that still hovered over the assembly--and after the ladies had gone up-stairs, and after Mr. Jordan had been exhorted in vain by each of the gentlemen who still lingered around the board to “try a weed”--an invitation which he declined in such alarmed accents as to cause them all to become hilariously merry--the bewildered and feverishly excited young man, without knowing how he came to be there, found himself standing again in the drawing-room in the presence of the goddess. In the process of time the fact invaded his mind that his place on the settee by the side of the divinity was now in the occupation of another. That other was Mr. Percival Davis. “He may be very clever,” Mr. Jordan overheard the penetrating accent of the goddess, “but I don’t think much of his conversation. Do you?” “I call it rotten,” said Mr. Percival Davis, as he transfixed the young man with a smile that was full of meaning. “I suppose his brain is so subtle that when he says something it is just the same as though he had said nothing at all.” “Must be,” said Miss Hermione Leigh. Mr. Davis and the goddess laughed so loudly and so directly at Mr. William Jordan that he gave a little gasp of dismay and yielded a step in dire confusion. “Run away and play,” said Mr. Davis. “Like a good boy,” said the goddess. “You are sure you got permission from mother to be out so late?” Chrissie inquired languidly from the head of the sofa.