... .... frosts less my love would quell.
Rather than seek thy side,
Of ... .... horse I love so well
I’ll ... .... hoofs and hide!

The number of letters in each word of the missing phrases is indicated by dots, and the seven letters in each case are those that spell also “no heart,” which we give as a title and clue.

[Solution]

No. V.—A PHONETIC MAXIMUM

How far phonetic spelling may be pushed, is illustrated by the following swarm of variations given in a book published at Enfield in 1829:—

Scissars—ers—irs—ors—urs—yrs
Scisars—„—„—„—„—„
Sciszars—„—„—„—„—„
Scizars—„—„—„—„—„
Scizscars—„—„—„—„—„
Scizzars—„—„—„—„—„

Or the word may start with Sis, Siss, Siz, Sys, Syss, Syzz, Syzs, Syz, Cis, Ciss, Ciz, Cisz, Cysz, Cyz, Cyzz. By substituting “z” for the final “s” we may double the number, and reach a total of 1224.

4. UNNATURAL HISTORY

’Neath ...... Indian seas fierce battles spread
’Twixt ...... hermit-crabs and other shellfish!
With horrid ...... when their foes are dead,
These crabs declare their shells ......, so selfish!

Each missing word has the same six letters.