Might soothe my present woe,
Reminding me how once I had
Been quite a jocund kind of lad.

Lo, what a foolish hope was this!
I realised too soon
The special form of Nemesis
That waits on the buffoon:
_The joke I found concerned the gloom
Inside a dentist's waiting-room_.

* * * * *

[Illustration: "HE HADN'T BEEN DEAD A WEEK WHEN THEY STARTED
QUARRELLING OVER HIS ESTATE."

"DID HE LEAVE MUCH?" "NO--ONLY THREE GALLONS."]

* * * * *

THE LATEST PARTY.

(_Being the Diary of a well-intentioned Voter_.)

_Monday_. Important article in my morning paper on the serious
political outlook. Recommends the formation of a new party to carry
out progressive reforms and combat the forces of Revolution and
Anarchy. Sounds excellent. The new party is to be called the People's
Party. I decide to join it.