"And this for my maddest playing"—oh, he wrote as he chuckled and laughed—
"I will make my dole an immortal soul;
They shall drain where they only quaffed!"
So, he did his sum in addition, till the rose and the star had met,
But although he tried to thrust it aside
One name lay unchallenged yet.
Complacently, knave and sinner, apportioned he each his due,
But when it was o'er there remained one more,
And its pattern the Piper knew.
"Rascal or thief," mused the Piper, "I play for their dancing and smile,
They have their way for a little day,
I have mine after a while.
"I can score each knave," quoth the Piper, "in Life's ill-sorted school,
For they take and they take their greed to slake,
But I am no match for the Fool!
For he pays as he goes," frowned the Piper, "pain, laughter, passion of tears!
He claims no pelf from Life for himself,
But gives his all without tears.
"The rest of my dancers laugh not, and I hold each one as a tool,
But he pays as he goes, be it rapture or woes,
And I have no bill for the Fool!
He loves and he lives," frowned the Piper, "and such poor returns suffice,
For he cries 'Voilà le diable!' and gives himself as the price!"
Then, with chagrin and reluctance, as the star sank into the pool,
The Piper made claim on each separate name,
But receipted in full—for the Fool.
The Bookman.
MARK TWAIN'S RESPONSE.
A friend wrote to Mark Twain, asking his opinion on a certain matter, and received no reply. He waited a few days, and wrote again.
His second letter was also ignored. Then he sent a third note, enclosing a sheet of paper and a two-cent stamp.
By return mail he received a postal card, on which was the following: "Paper and stamp received. Please send envelope."—Boston Herald.