ever the consequences might be I meant to have my snake,
and while I was collecting it from the floor and cramming it back in the
box I discovered my defence.

Smiling my very best smile, I turned and faced the angry officials the
other side of the counter and, holding the box towards them, pointed to
three printed words underneath: "Made in Germany."

* * * * *

"The Prime Minister left Cupar by the 5.29 train.... The motor
arrived at the station at 5.55 and the party went in leisurely
fashion down the station steps."--_Glasgow Herald._

What it is to be a Prime Minister! Ordinary mortals arrive at 5.28 and
go down the steps three at a time.

* * * * *

"It is, of course, impossible to dogmatise without conclusive
evidence."--_Times._

You should hear our curate.

* * * * *

[Illustration: THE FIGHT FOR THE BANNER.

JOHN BULL. "THIS TIRES ME. WHY CAN'T YOU CARRY IT BETWEEN YOU? NEITHER
OF YOU CAN CARRY IT ALONE."]

[Illustration: "AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MOSES?"

"PLEASE, TEACHER, IT'S MY FIRST SUNDAY HERE AND I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY."]

* * * * *

A NONENTITY.

He was a tramp, a mere tramp, clearly a man of no importance to you or
me or anyone else in the world. The evening was warm, the place secluded
and remote, and, other things being equal, he climbed over the hedge,
chose a comfortable position against a haystack, pulled from his pocket
a fragment of a newspaper and a fragment of a pipe and settled down.

A tramp, the merest tramp, seven miles from anywhere, sitting in a field
smoking a pipe and reading a newspaper--what can such a one matter to
the world at large?

The portion of the newspaper was that containing the law reports, not a
prime favourite with the tramp. The lengthy report which had squeezed
out other matter that might have been worth reading was a proceeding
before the Lords of Appeal, in which Sir Rupert Bingley, K.C., M.P., was
being very explicit and very firm about the exact limitations of the
power of the Divisional Court to commit for contempt. This was hardly
fit matter for the reading of a young and susceptible tramp, our man was
telling himself, when the name of a district which he had once traversed
cropped up in the case and caught his wandering attention.

The spot in question was on the wild Welsh border, and it was a