foulness was permitted to adorn the walls of Jones's Hall behind me, and
then undertook to escape. Simultaneously with the explosion of the first
shot, a howl had burst from the audience, which boded no good for any
prospects of comfort and profit I might entertain. Escaping on my part
became no joke; and I beg the reader to believe that my chagrin was
quite overwhelmed in the all-impressive desire to protect myself from
total annihilation. In my subsequent gratitude at having accomplished
this feat, I overlooked the little discomforts of an eye in mourning, a
broken finger, and garments perfumed throughout in defiance of _la
mode_.

At present, I am engaged in a business which I deem far more respectable
and lucrative than lecturing, to wit, explaining the merits and
advantages of a patent needle-threader to interested crowds on Broadway.
Here my oratorical abilities are advantageously displayed, my audiences
are attentive, and my profits are good.

[_Exit Brown_]

* * * * *

THE WATCHWORD.


'Trust in the Lord, and keep your powder dry!'
So cried stout OLIVER in the storm, before
That redder rain on bloody Marston Moor,
Which whelmed the flower of English chivalry.
Repeat the watchword when the sullen sky
Stoops with its weight of terror, while the roar