'I wish I were a fish,
With a great long tail;
A tiny little tittlebat,
A wiggle or a whale,
In the middle of the great blue sea. Oh, my!'


'Oh, how I long to be there!' exclaimed Philip, 'to throw aside all
the formal customs of a wicked world I abhor, and live a free life
under the blue sky!'

'Why, Philip Noble! I never saw you inside of a house in my life,'
cried Polly.

'Oh, yes; you're mistaken. I've been obliged to eat most of my meals
in the house, and sleep there; but I don't approve of it, and it's a
trial to be borne with meekness only when there's no remedy for it.'

'Besides,' said Jack, 'even when we are out-of-doors we are shelling
the reluctant almond, poisoning the voracious gopher, pruning grape-
vines, and "sich." Now I am only going to shoot to eat, and eat to
shoot!'

'Hope you've improved since last year, or you'll have a low diet,'
murmured Phil, in an undertone.

'The man of genius must expect to be the butt of ridicule,' sighed
Jack, meekly.