Prev | Current Page 359 | Next

McCutcheon, George Barr, 1866-1928

"Mr. Bingle"


Napoleon's crib also made its way into the parlour when the cold
weather came; and while Napoleon's legs stayed under cover pretty well
his voice, like Chanticleer's, arose before the sun. Frederick,
Wilberforce and Reginald slept in one room, Marie Louise, Henrietta
and Guinevere in another. In pleasant weather, Rosemary joined her
sisters, while Harold and Rutherford fell in with the other boys.
There never was a time, however, when Mr. Bingle did not have a bed-
fellow in the shape of one or the other of the two small boys.
The fourth room was occupied by the maid-of-all-work, and as it was
primarily intended to be the servant's bedroom it is not necessary to
state that there was space for but one full grown person inside its
four walls. The collapsible cot in the kitchen represented the
foundation of an emergency guest chamber. Up to the present it had not
been called into use, but it was always there in readiness for the
expected and unexpected.
It will be observed that no account is taken of Mrs. Bingle. The
explanation is quite simple.


Pages:
347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371