THE NEW FIFTEEN PUZZLE.
Draw the squares on a sheet of paper, and say: "I wish to fill these rows of squares, or stalls, full of animals, which you must watch carefully, in order to arrange them according to a formula which I shall give you. I will put down H for horses in the first row, C for cows in the second, and D for donkeys in the third." Put the letters down rapidly as you talk, leaving one square vacant in the third row, as if by accident, and some looker-on will be sure to say words to this effect, "There is one donkey missing," when you reply at once, "Then jump in yourself."
THE MONDDIA PUZZLE.
With one straight cut of the scissors transform this Monddia into a precious stone.
Mosquitoes in China.—Hotel charges in China are not too economical; but the traveller must remember to pay his bill when he leaves any place for a trip that he thinks may be short, but which may exceed his idea of the time required. Happening to be away for four days, I found that the charges for food and bed to a leather bag and a walking-stick which I had left behind were the same as those charged to myself when present in the house. Henceforth, when I went abroad, I took those little things with me, and opened a fresh account on my return. One finds soap and lamp duly charged as extras in all Eastern hotel accounts. The only thing for which no charge is made is the mosquito. This blood-thirsty little creature in China will take no denial. Worried by the heat of the day—the moist heat that so enervates one—a tired traveller will seek mid-day rest, but find it not. The mosquitoes are upon him by day as by night. They care nothing for nettings, and fairly laugh at the efforts of their victim to dislodge them with a long feather whisk. They form a very serious drawback to the pleasures of Eastern travel.