[Miss Spelwane advances to meet Spurrell, who stands surveying the array of chairs in blank bewilderment.
BRITISH LIONS.
["Poor Mrs. Leo Hunter has fallen on evil days.... It is the lions themselves that are lacking.... We have fallen upon an age of prancing mediocrity."—The World, October 10.]
O dire is our extremity, whose laudable persistence
In tracking down celebrities is undiminished still,
We're quick enough to mark our prey, we scent him at a distance,
But seldom is our watchfulness rewarded by a "kill."
There are bears indeed in plenty, there are owls with strident voices,
And jackanapes in modern days are seldom hard to find,