offspring once since I sat down to write this. Can it have dawned at
last upon his parent that this is one of those little games where the
odds are a trifle too heavy in favour of the Table? Or can the son
have sickened of his own villainy and washed his claws of his shady
confederate? I don't know why, but I am almost beginning to hope....
No; through the open window comes the well-known cry, "There it _is_,
Fa-ther! There it _is_, Fa-ther! Be a bird! Be a _bird_!... No, '_e_'s
got it! No, '_e_'s got it! Cheer up! Cheer up!" They are at it again!

F.A.

* * * * *

A SHADY TENANT.

[From inquiries made by a _Daily Chronicle_ representative it
appears that the present demand for housing accommodation is
such that people no longer draw the line at ghosts.]

The problem at last is a thing of the past;
Doubts and fears, Geraldine, are at rest;
We can put up the banns and make definite plans,
For the love-birds will soon have a nest.
I've inspected, my sweet, the sequestered retreat
In which we are destined to dwell,
And on thinking things out I have not the least doubt
It will suit us exceedingly well.

There are drawbacks, I grant, but one nowadays can't
Have perfection, as you are aware,