* * * * *

[Illustration: THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL.

OPTIMISTIC GERMAN _(reading paper)._ "THIS IS KOLOSSAL! OUR IRRESISTIBLE
AIRMEN HAVE AGAIN, FOR THE TWENTIETH TIME, DESTROYED LONDON."

GLOOMY DITTO. "THAT BEING SO, LET'S HOPE THEY'LL STOP THOSE CURSED
BRITISH AIRMEN FROM BOMBING OUR LINES EVERY DAY AND NIGHT."]

* * * * *

A STUDY IN SYMMETRY.

The following story, however improbable it may seem to you, is true.

Once upon a time there was an artist with historical leanings not
unassociated with the desire for pelf--pelf being, even to idealists,
what petrol is to a car. The blend brought him one day to Portsmouth,
where the _Victory_ lies, with the honourable purpose of painting a
picture of that famous ship with NELSON on board. What the ADMIRAL was
doing I cannot say--most probably dying--but the artist's intention was
to make the work as attractive as might be and thus draw a little profit
from the wave of naval enthusiasm which was then passing over the
country; for not only was the picture itself to be saleable, but
reproductions were to be made of it.

Permission having been obtained from the authorities, the artist boarded
the _Victory_, set up his easel on her deck and settled down to his