"Old Mother Goose was delighted when she saw what a fine bird her son had provided her with."
Wales and Sir A. Griffith-Boscawen.
STUTTFIELD AND THE REDS.
Stuttfield was nothing of a Nero. He would never have fiddled while Rome burned. He would have been more likely to imagine that Rome was burning when there was really nothing more going on than a bonfire. He is one more example of the pernicious influence of sensational literature upon a nervous temperament.
It all began through Stuttfield finding a copy of The Daily Blast in a railway carriage last June. This journal is printed on white paper, but the tendency of its contents is ruddy—that is to say, it has "Red" leanings. It was a revelation to Stuttfield.
"Are people allowed to say such things?" he asked me in horror.
"My dear fellow, no one takes it seriously," I said. "Don't you worry."
But Stuttfield did worry. The Daily Blast had the same effect upon him as a snake has upon a rabbit; it terrified him, yet he could not run away from it. In fact he became a regular subscriber and continued so despite some rumours that it was supported financially by the Rougetanians—rumours which required, and received, a great deal of explanation.
Then, through the offices of his man-servant, he obtained a copy of The Volcano.