* * * * *

[Illustration: THE MOST IRRESISTIBLE SIRENS ARE NOT THOSE WHO SING,
BUT THOSE WHO LISTEN (OR PRETEND TO)!

_Daughter of the House_. "TELL ME, PROFESSOR BORAX, HOW DID YOU LIKE
THE LADY MAMMA GAVE YOU TO TAKE IN TO DINNER?"

_The Professor_ (_innocently_). "MY DEAR GIRL, SHE'S SIMPLY THE MOST
CHARMING WOMAN I EVER MET! _I NEVER TALKED SO MUCH IN MY LIFE!_"]

* * * * *

IN A MAZE.

"Mr. BALFOUR brought up a new sub-section, which he admitted
was so obscure that he only 'more or less' understood it
himself, and which, indeed, is of '_plusquam_-Thucydidean'
dimness and involution.... There is no excuse, we must say,
for the muddle into which the Government has got over the
Bill.... The House of Commons has adjourned for a short
holiday, but the Irish Land Purchase Bill is not yet through
Committee.... There still remained all the new clauses, for
which no time had been found."--_Times_.

_Little Bill loquitur_:--

Oh do, if you please, Mr. BALFOUR, Sir, if you _can_,--and who can if you
can't, Sir?--