“Didyougivehimanythingforit, father?”, regardingherhusbandclosely.
“Atrife，”saidhe, colouringslightly.“Hedidntwantit, .”
“Likely，”saidHerbert, withpretendedhorror.“Why, we‘regoingtoberich, andfamous, , father, tobeginwith；thenyoucan’tbehenpecked.”
Hedartedroundthetable, .
.“Idon‘tknowwhattowishfor, andthat’safact，”hesaidslowly.“ItseemstomeIvegotallIwant.”
“Ifyouonlyclearedthehouse, you‘dbequitehappy, wouldn’tyou?”saidHerbert, withhishandonhisshoulder.“Well, wishfortwohundredpounds, then；thatlljustdoit.”
Hisfather, smilingshamefacedlyathisowncredulity, heldupthetalisman, ashisson, withasolemnfacesomewhatmarredbyawinkathismother, satdownatthepianoandstruckafewimpressivechords.
“Iwishfortwohundredpounds，”saidtheoldmandistinctly.
Afnecrashfromthepianogreetedthewords, .
“Itmoved，”hecried, withaglanceofdisgustattheobjectasitlayonthefoor.“AsIwishedittwistedinmyhandslikeasnake.”
“Well, Idontseethemoney，”saidhisson, ashepickeditupandplaceditonthetable，“andIbetInevershall.”
“Itmusthavebeenyourfancy, father，”saidhiswife, regardinghimanxiously.
Heshookhishead.“Nevermind, though；theresnoharmdone, butitgavemeashockallthesame.”
, thewindwashigherthanever, , whichlasteduntiltheoldcouplerosetoretireforthenight.
“Iexpectyoullfndthecashtiedupinabigbaginthemiddleofyourbed，”saidHerbert, ashebadethemgoodnight，“andsomethinghorriblesquattingupontopofthewardrobewatchingyouasyoupocketyourill-gottengains.”
