Page 126 - Fairbrass

set a better example, contented themselves

with a hard biscuit, and a little whisky and
water— whisky, as we all know, is a fine

thing for the gout— and that their father

declined the dry sherry strongly recom­
mended and freely patronized by the lawyer.

It was really quite a relief when a
dapper-locking young man, attired in shiny

black cloth, quietly bustled into the room

— a well-trained undertaker’s young man
can really bustle quite quietly— and, without

saying a word, swaddled them and their
hats up jn black silk, and covered their

hands with black kid gloves. Poor diminu­

tive Fairbrass puzzled him for one moment,
but pins promptly settled the question, and,

since the boy could make no remonstrance,

he was soon transformed into an expensive
object of sable-suited, ribbed-silk waddling

woe.

Then came the dismal undertaker's
procession to the church. The grim-looking

black hearse, surmounted with preposterous
plumes ; the three heavy mourning-coaches,