* * * * *

STRONGER THAN HERSELF.

In an assortment of nieces, totalling nine in all--but two of them,
being still, in Sir WALTER'S phrase, composed of "that species of pink
dough which is called a fine infant" do not count--I think that my
favourites are Enid and Hannah. Enid being the daughter of a brother
of mine, and Hannah of a sister, they are cousins. They are also
collaborators in literature and joint editors of a magazine for family
consumption entitled _The Attic Salt-Cellar_. The word "Attic" refers
to the situation of the editorial office, which is up a very perilous
ladder, and "salt-cellar" was a suggestion of my own, which, though
adopted, is not yet understood.

During the search for pseudonyms for the staff--the pseudonym is an
essential in home journalism, and the easiest way of securing it is
to turn one's name round--we came upon the astonishing discovery that
Hannah is exactly the same whether you spell it backwards or forwards.
Hannah therefore calls herself, again at my suggestion, "Pal,"
which is short for "palindrome." We also discovered, to her intense
delight, that Enid, when reversed, makes "Dine"--a pleasant word but
a poor pseudonym. She therefore calls herself after her pet flower,
"Marigold."

Between them Pal and Marigold do all the work. There is room for an
epigram if you happen to have one about you, or even an ode, but they
can get along without outside contributions. Enid does most of the
writing and Hannah copies it out.