Here George, who had listened gravely to all Cousin Frank's nonsense, burst out laughing, when there was nothing to laugh at.

'Don't, George,' said Arthur, forgetting his dignity. 'Go on, please, Cousin Frank.'

'Yes; go on, if you please, sir,' said the old gentleman, who had been listening all the time. Cousin Frank laughed, and then went on with his story.

Mr. Smith passed a pastry-cook's shop and stopped.

I have a great mind,' said he; 'yes, really I feel very much inclined to-positively, for once in my life, I'll go in and have "a feast."

He had never been able to enjoy a feast' before, because the pastry-cook's girl had always stared so at his nose; but now he had a lovely nose, and did not care who stared.

He stood looking in at the window, thinking what he could eat. There were sausage-rolls and cocked hats, and raspberry tarts and cream tarts; and as he looked, Mr. Smith put his face closer and closer to the window, until his nose touched the pane. The girl in the shop looked at him and laughed, for she had hardly ever seen any one flatten his nose so much as Mr. Smith did, although the little boys were in the habit of

flattening their noses there very often during the day; but Mr. Smith's nose had not any feeling in it, you see, so he pressed it against the windowpane until it was like a penny-piece.

When he saw the pastry-cook's girl laugh, he tried to start away; but his nose stuck fast to the glass, for the sun had made it so hot that it had melted the gutta-percha nose.

Back went Mr. Smith, with the tip of his nose still sticking to the window, and the nose itself pulling out longer and longer, until it grew into a long string as thick as a whipcord.

Farther and farther back, till it was as thin as a very small twine; and just at that moment came a mad bull tearing down the street.

Mr. Smith saw him coming, and pulled away farther from his nose. He saw the people rushing after the bull, and heard them shouting,- Out of the way! get out of the way!'

Mr. Smith cut capers in the air; he did not know whether to run back to the pastry-cook's shop and gather up the rest of his nose and wind it in a ball, or whether to go on backing more and more away from it.

In another moment the bull gave him no choice. Down the street he came, tearing and bellowing, right against the string, which stretched across the

street; and as he ran with all his strength against it, the gutta-percha broke!

Poor Mr. Smith! Bang came the long stretchedout nose against the middle of his face, and down he went like a shot.

Whether the blow killed him or no, I have never heard. At any rate, he was not seen in that town again; but, as I told you before, if you should meet a gentleman named Mr. Smith at any time, you can ask him if he ever had a guttapercha nose, and whether this story happened to him; and meanwhile, remember from what happened to Mr. Smith, that it is always better to be content with our noses as nature made them.

Here Cousin Frank stopped, and so did the train, and a guard came to the carriage door and said, 'Tickets, please;' and the children were surprised to find that they had arrived at Tormouth.

H

CHAPTER III.

ARTHUR'S FIRST PIPE.

AVE you ever been to the sea-side? I do not mean to a watering-place; I daresay you may have been to Brigh

ton, but Tormouth was not in the least like Brighton. It was very small; it had no pier, or even jetty, it had no splendid hotel covered with gold, no tall houses, no squares, and only three bathing-machines; you might walk for miles along the beach without meeting anybody but one or two fishermen; yet I think in many ways it was a much pleasanter place than Brighton.

When Cousin Frank arrived at Tormouth with Arthur, Bessie, and George, and, being met by Aunt Harriette, gave over their luggage into the

hands of a porter, and set off walking to Rock Cottage, Aunt Harriette's house, Arthur felt rather disappointed; for although his mamma had advised him not to do so, he had dressed himself in all his best clothes, feeling sure that, as Tormouth was a sea-side place, that he should find lots of people to look at him.

When they arrived at Rock Cottage, Arthur walked away, without asking if he could be of any help to his aunt or sister, while George and Bessie made themselves very busy in unpacking, and Cousin Frank did not think himself too much of a man to carry things up-stairs for them; indeed, they were so merry together that Arthur had much better have stayed with them.

There was no one on the beach to admire Arthur's grey suit and blue necktie but some fishermen, who were sitting in a group of three or four under the shelter of a boat upon the shingles. Arthur walked to the place where they sat, and stood and looked at them, until one of the men observed, Well, youngster?'

• Is

Always youngster'! Even at Tormouth already they had found out that he was young. What are you doing?' asked Arthur. there anything for a fellow to do in a place like