I am inclined to think that his popularity was
mainly owing to his quiet impudence. His ad-
vent in the family was that of an old member,
who had been absent for a short time, but had
returned to familiar haunts and associations. In
a Pythagorean point of view this might have been
the case, but I cannot recall any deceased member
of the family who was in life partial to bone-
burying (though it might be post mortem a con-
sistent amusement), and this was Boonder's great
weakness. He was at first discovered coiled up
on a rug in an upper chamber, and was the least
disconcerted of the entire household. From that
moment Boonder became one of its recognized
members, and privileges, often denied the most in-
telligent and valuable of his species, were qui-
etly taken by him and submitted to by us. Thus,
if he were found coiled up in a clothes-basket,
or any article of clothing assumed locomotion
on its own account, we only said, "O, it's Boon-
der," with a feeling of relief that it was nothing
worse.

I have spoken of his fondness for bone-burying.
It could not be called an economical faculty, for he
invariably forgot the locality of his treasure, and
covered the garden with purposeless holes; but
although the violets and daisies were not improved
by Boonder's gardening, no one ever thought of
punishing him. He became a synonyme for Fate;
a Boonder to be grumbled at, to be accepted phil-

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