* * * * *

[Illustration: _The Cheerful One._ "CONGRATULATIONS, OLD CHAP, ON FINDING
YOUR GAME AGAIN."

_Club Grouser._ "FINDING MY GAME! WHY, I'VE JUST OFFERED TO SELL EVERY
DAMNED CLUB IN MY BAG."

_The Cheerful One._ "YES, I KNOW. BUT YESTERDAY YOU WERE _GIVING_ THEM
AWAY."]

* * * * *

PRONE.

_To the Editor of "Punch."_

SIR,--I am an architect (of forty-three years' standing) and I like to keep
_au courant_ with everything in the world of building (or of being about to
build). Consequently anything new in constructional material interests me,
and in this connection I would like to ask you what is or what are Prone? I
have only seen it (or them) mentioned once, and from the context I gather
that the word "prone" stands for the plural of "prone" (as "grouse" is the
plural of "grouse," and as "house" might well stand for the plural of
"house" nowadays, considering the shortage of dwellings), and that it (or
they) is (or are) used either as a floor covering or otherwise in
connection with working on the floor or ground.

My reason for so thinking is contained in the following interesting item,
culled from a well-known daily newspaper:--

"There is in London one man at least who works hard every day and has
to lay prone to do it.

He may be seen daily in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey re-cutting
the names on the flagged gravestones which have been worn by countless
pilgrims' feet. He has picked out many illustrious names, and others
are to follow."

The sex and species of this hard-worker preclude the notion of any
oviparous act, and I take it that one "lays prone" as one lays a mat or
strip of carpet, for the purpose of facilitating labour that is done on the
knees or stomach. If I am right I should like to get my builder to order
some for his workmen absolutely at once.

Anything which would help to defeat the Trade Unions in their fight against
speeding-up would be a blessing, especially to the architectural world, so
perhaps you will be good enough to enlighten me on the nature of Prone, and
where obtainable.

Believe me, Yours very gravely,
ONESIMUS STONE (F.R.I.B.A.).

* * * * *

From an American book on "How and What to Read":--

"Other great American short story writers include Bret Harte, Edward
Everett Hale, Frank Stockton, and Mary E. Wilkins. With these may be