THE FAIRY TAILOR

Sitting on the flower-bed beneath the hollyhocks

I spied the tiny tailor who makes the fairies' frocks;

There he sat a-stitching all the afternoon

And sang a little ditty to a quaint wee tune:

"Grey for the goblins, blue for the elves,

Brown for the little gnomes that live by themselves,

White for the pixies that dance upon the green,

But where shall I find me a robe for the Queen?"

All about the garden his little men he sent,

Up and down and in and out unceasingly they went;

Here they stole a blossom, there they pulled a leaf,

And bound them up with gossamer into a glowing sheaf.

Petals of the pansy for little velvet shoon,

Silk of the poppy for a dance beneath the moon,

Lawn of the jessamine, damask of the rose,

To make their pretty kirtles and airy furbelows.

Never roving pirates back from Southern seas

Brought a store of treasures home beautiful as these;

They heaped them all about him in a sweet gay pile,

But still he kept a-stitching and a-singing all the while:

"Grey for the goblins, blue for the elves,

Brown for the little gnomes that live by themselves,

White for the pixies that dance on the green,

But who shall make a royal gown to deck the Fairy Queen?"

R. F.

"Unless he wishes to raise a hornet's nest about his ears we would advise him to let sleeping dogs lie."

—Local Paper.

Personally we never keep a dog that harbours hornets.

From a concert-programme:—

"Fantastic Symphony ... Berlioz in a Vodka Shop ... Bax."

Birmingham Paper.

This should help to combat the current opinion that Berlioz is dry.

"Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson said there were, in certain places, some forms of light entertainments which, to say the least, wanted carefully watching."

—Daily Paper.

At present, we gather, the wrong people do the watching.

SING A SONG OF DRACHMAS.

(TINO AT ATHENS.)

THE KING WAS IN HIS COUNTING-HOUSE LOOKING FOR HIS MONEY.

Man of Wealth (to his son just home for the holidays). "And why don't you like your fur coat? I'll bet none of the other boys 'ave got one."

Son. "Yes, but none of the other boys have to be called 'Skunky.'"