characteristics of that admirable animal."

* * * * *

When I was at Hawarden in the summer of 1893, little DOROTHY DREW
asked her grandfather for the loan of a book "to press flowers in."
It is a process, as readers may know, not good for the book, and I
thought the illustrious statesman and bibliophile looked a little
embarrassed. But his face cleared in a moment, and he went out of the
room and presently returned with a sufficient volume, in which the
flowers were duly laid, the book being then, with the united efforts
of the company, subjected to the necessary pressure under a heavy
cabinet. Anxious to know which volume of his beloved library Mr.
GLADSTONE had selected for desecration, I took an early opportunity
of furtively examining the title of the tortured tome. It was
_Coningsby_.

* * * * *

ANOTHER IMPENDING APOLOGY.

"Councillor ----'s son will be married to the eldest daughter of
Councillor ----. The members of the Corporation are invited to the
suspicious event."--_Local Paper_.

* * * * *

[Illustration: THE DISTRACTIONS OF AN INDISPENSABLE.]

* * * * *