_PATERFAMILIAS._

A dear little chap! Very true; but I'm thinking
That you're just a little _too_ "dear" for me--yet!
Ah, yes! it's no use to stand smiling and winking;
I like the bright ways of you, youngster,--you bet!
You're white as the moon, and as spry as a rocket;
No doubt all you say in self-praise is quite true,
But you see, boy, I _must_ keep an eye to my pocket!
The Renters and Raters so put on the screw,
That a "middle-class income" won't stand much more squeezing,
And Forty or Fifty Pounds more in the year.
For _your_ bright companionship, albeit pleasing,
Would come pretty stiff, my boy. _That_ is my fear.
Just cheapen yourself, in supply and in fitting,
To something that fits with my limited "screw,"
And you will not find me shrink long from admitting
A dear little chap like you!

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

[Illustration]

The Baron's Assistant Reader reports as follows to his chief--If you
want a really refreshing book, a book whose piquant savour and quaint
originality of style are good for jaded brains, buy and read _In a
Canadian Canoe_ by BARRY PAIN, the sixth volume of the Whitefriars
Library of Wit and Humour (HENRY & Co.). Most of the stories and, I