But he proved to be a very amenable policeman. He said he would take no action before he and the door-keeper had had time to talk it over next day. By the time that talk came the photographs had been developed, printed and translated. But the policeman did not wish to bore the door-keeper with the tiresome details. To put it quite shortly the policeman thought it was a most excellent crime, worthy of repetition at intervals.
Yours ever, Henry.
(To be continued.)
CONCENTRATION.
NEW RHYMES FOR OLD CHILDREN.
The ——.
I never know why it should be
So rude to talk about the ——.
What funny folk we are!
I think we’ve got the jealous hump
Because we see we’ll never jump
So skilfully and far.
For, if one’s nibbled by a gnat
Or harvest-bugs or things like that,
One seldom keeps it dark;
One may enlarge upon the tale
If one is gobbled by a whale
Or swallowed by a shark;
But if you speak about the bite
Of this abandoned parasite
You’re very, very rash;
So sure is it to raise a frown
I dare not even write it down;
I simply put a ——.
None but an entomologist
Will quite admit the things exist,
And generally they insist
On using other names;
For, when at night Professors leap
Out of their scientific sleep
Because these little devils keep
Playing their usual games,
They never shout, "It seems to be
A something, something, something ——!"
(The word is never used, you see,
Except by artisans);
No, as they fling the bedclothes high
They give a wild but cultured cry,
"Confound it! Botheration! Hi!
A Pulex irritans!" A. P. H.