about pluck, and he was reluctant to bribe his enemies. It is a very
dangerous thing to have notions about anything.

* * * * *

WANTED, A WORD-SLAYER.

_Fin de Siècle!_ Ah, that phrase, though taste spurn it, I
Fear, threatens staying with us to eternity.
Who _will_ deliver
Our nerves, all a-quiver,
From that pest-term, and its fellow "modernity"?

* * * * *

[Illustration: AT THE DOOR; OR, PATERFAMILIAS AND THE YOUNG SPARK.

_Electric Light_. "WHAT, WON'T YOU LET ME IN--A DEAR LITTLE CHAP LIKE
ME?"

_Householder_. "AH! YOU'RE A LITTLE TOO DEAR FOR ME--AT PRESENT."]

* * * * *

AT THE DOOR; OR, PATERFAMILIAS AND THE YOUNG SPARK.

(_AN ELECTRICAL ECLOGUE._)

["The cost is still heavy, no doubt, and the electric light
still stands in the category of luxuries which are almost