"He was a gallant scoundrel, but my quick riposte confused him," observed Signor Succi, who entered the apartment, wiping his blade on the advertisement of a new beef-essence, and taking copious draughts of his elixir.
Thus died, as he had lived, dismal, desperate, degraded, the Hunger Bacillus, the last of his race.
(From another Column of the same Paper.)
We rejoice to hear that the Act for making Succination compulsory is to be energetically enforced. Public Succinators have now been appointed to every district, and every parent omitting to have the operation performed upon his infant within two months after birth is to be rigorously prosecuted. Henceforth, as we may remind our readers, anybody "complaining of hunger shall be liable on conviction to be imprisoned for not less than six calendar months, with or without hard labour." We quote the words of clause 3 of the Act.
ALLOWED TO STARVE.
| The Successful Fasting-Man. | One of the Six Hundred!!! |
OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.
Mr. James Payn has the peculiar gift of writing a novel as if he were telling you a story vivâ voce and interesting you in it, not only by reason of its plot, but also by his way of narrating it. There is a spontaneity about his style which to the Baron is most refreshing: it is like listening to two clever men, one of whom is telling the story, and the other is enlivening it with his sharp and appropriate comments, always dropped in parenthetically. Mr. Payn is a good hand at keeping a secret, and it is not for the Baron de B. W. to tell beforehand what the novelist keeps as a little bit up his sleeve till the last moment. Why call it The Burnt Million? To what tremendous conflagration involving such a fearful loss of life does the title point? The story will interest the Million and delight Thousands. Excellent as is the dialogue generally, the Baron ventures to doubt whether any ordinary person (and no one of these characters is a genius) ever begins a sentence with "Nay." Anent The Burnt Million, the Baron's advice to persons in search of a novel is, "Tolle, lege!" Also the Baron says, get La Revue de Famille at Hachette's. Un Foyer de Théâtre, by M. Audebrand, for all interested in the history of the French Drama, is delightful reading. Don't miss Causerie Littéraire, by Mr. Charles Benoist.