HAVING A GOOD TIME.
"Having a good time," are you?
But, ah! what would mother say
If she knew of the two rogues rummaging
In her bureau drawer to-day?
"Mamma's gone out," is that it?
And nurse is "off duty" too?
And little mice, when the cat is away,
Find mischief enough to do.
Well, little golden-haired burglars,
What do you find for your pains?
Some garments folded so neatly away,
And mamma's jewel-case are your gains.
You look at the jewels before you
With innocent, joyous surprise;
But the jewels I like are your own precious selves,
And like gems are your merry blue eyes.
But hark! I knew nurse would wonder
What mischief you two were about;
"When those children are quiet," I once heard her say,
"Some mischief I'm sure to find out."
Oh, dear little rogues, scamper quickly
Away from temptation and fun;
Leave the jewels and drawer, ere your fingers
Be guilty of harm yet undone.
THE PASHA PUZZLE.
Here are two British gun-boats sailing up the Bosporus to rescue British subjects from brigands.
Here are three sea-gulls sailing over the British gun-boats.
Here are two Turkish cimeters to help the British gun-boats against the brigands.
Here are two Turkish bayonets to support the cimeters.
Here is a British shell ready to burst.
Here is a grim fortress on the banks of the Bosporus.
Now how are you going to make Hobart Pasha out of all this?
THE STREETS OF CANTON.
They are very narrow and dirty, in the first place, with an average width of from three to five feet. They are paved with long, narrow slabs of stone. Their names are often both devotional and poetical. We saw Peace Street, and the street of Benevolence and Love. Another, by some violent wrench of the imagination, was called the street of Refreshing Breezes. Some contented mind had given a name to the street of Early Bestowed Blessings. The paternal sentiment, so sacred to the Chinaman, found expression in the street of One Hundred Grandsons and street of One Thousand Grandsons. There was the street of a Thousand Beatitudes, which, let us pray, were enjoyed by its founder. There were streets consecrated to Everlasting Love, to a Thousandfold Peace, to Ninefold Brightness, to Accumulated Blessings; while a practical soul, who knew the value of advertising, named his avenue the Market of Golden Profits.
Other streets are named after trades and avocations. There is Betelnut Street, where you can buy the betel-nut, of which we saw so much in Siam, and the Cocoanut, and Drink Tea. There is where the Chinese hats are sold, and where you can buy the finery of a mandarin for a few shillings. There is Eyeglass Street, where the compass is sold; and if you choose to buy a compass, there is no harm in remembering that we owe the invention of that subtle instrument to China. Another street is given to the manufacture of bows and arrows; another to Prussian blue; a third to the preparation of furs.
The shops have signs in Chinese characters, gold letters on a red and black ground, which are hung in front, a foot or two from the wall, and droop before you as you pass under them.
One of the annoyances of the streets is the passage through them of mandarins in their palanquins, surrounded by guards, who strike the foot-passengers with their whips if they do not get out of the way quickly enough.
THE INTERRUPTED RIDE.