_The_ cove to catch a big bird-batch, and qvite a match for
VILL-I-AM!"

Old VILLIAM and young Vistling JOE are rivals, vot vere pardners!
And some vill back the Brummyites, and some the Grand Old
Harward'ners;
But vichsoever from the fight of victory be the snatcher,
The Midlands own a champion in the Brummagem Birdcatcher.

* * * * *

[Illustration: _Mrs. Gusher_. "OH, GOOD-BYE, SIR JOHN. SO SORRY NOT TO
HAVE FOUND YOUR MOST _CHARMING_ WIFE AT HOME."

_Sir John_. "THANKS--THANKS! BY THE WAY, LET ME ASSURE YOU I'VE ONLY
GOT _ONE_,--AND--"

(_Thinks that the remainder of the sentence is "better understood than
expressed."_)]

* * * * *

"A ROYAL LINE" (IN THE BILLS).--The successor to _King Henry the
Eighth_ (at the Lyceum) will be _King Lear the First. "Le Roi est
mort! Vive le Roi_!"

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.