[THAT STOUT GERMAN]
By F. Bayford Harrison.
In the City of Brussels a great deal of very pretty lace is exposed for sale. Englishwomen admire this lace and buy it. If they go straight from Belgium to England they can take it home without having to pay any duty; but if they pass through France they have to pay on all their new Brussels lace at the French Custom House. And many Englishwomen pass through France on their way from Belgium to England, because they prefer the short passage from Calais to Dover to the longer one from Ostend.
The Misses Wylie were charming, middle-aged ladies, fond of travel, fond of dress, fond of lace, and very bad sailors. They had been excursioning in Germany, had come down the Rhine, and had spent a week in Brussels. More attractive than the Field of Waterloo, and more fascinating than the Musée Wiertz, was the Galerie St. Hubert. Miss Melissa Wylie could not resist the white Brussels lace; Miss Annora Wylie could not resist the black. Each of the ladies bought lace; led on by the tempter, in the shape of a seductive shopwoman, the Misses Wylie bought lace fichus, lace collarettes, lace by the mètre. Day by day they added to their stock.
At length it was necessary to make for England, and to pass through that dreadful France with its protective duties. Then they realized their position; how about the lace?
"We cannot conscientiously say," remarked Miss Melissa, "that we have rien à déclarer, because this lace is dutiable."
"And we dare not risk packing it," returned Miss Annora, "because they might take it into their heads to examine our boxes."
"How can we get it through?" mused the elder sister.
"We must get it through!" declared the younger sister.