n travelling, to affix two small wheels upon their
shoulder blades, and on coming to any slight incline in their path they
would curl up their legs, lie on their backs and free-wheel as
distantly as the slant of the ground permitted, greatly, no doubt, to
the astonishment of less sophisticated people. But, knowing their
habits, their enemies were wont to lie in wait at the bottoms of hills
and slopes, and when a Spanyol or Mandibaloe came wheeling down a hill
with his legs up he was killed before he could regain a less
complicated position, or one more fitted for defence or offence. Thus,
these races became rapidly extinct, and are now only remembered by the
tracks as wide as a man's shoulderblades which are occasionally found
in parts of the post-tertiary formation."

The old gentleman released the third button of my waistcoat which he
had held for so long and stepped with me out of the hostel. As it had
begun to rain he carefully folded up his umbrella, tucked it under his
arm, and strode rapidly down the street. Some small boys followed him
for a little time singing, "We are the boys of Wexford who fought with
heart and hand," but I drove these away.

X

He wiped his face with a large, red pocket-handkerchief, pursed his
lips, shut one eye, and, with the other, he critically observed the
remnant of his liquor. After a moment of deep consideration he smiled
delightfully and said he thought it was all right. The apothecary
behind the counter smiled also as one gratified and suggested that
there was not much of that at the North Pole, and, after a little
discussion on this point, the old gentleman addressed me in the
following words:--

"I do not understand what necessity impels people to the discovery of
something, which, if it has any existence at all, has only an
idealistic existence, and which, when it is discovered, cannot be
utilised in any possible direction. Utility is the first attribute of
all terrestrial bodies. A stone, for instance, is a useful inorganic
substance--it can be built into a house, or thrown at a duck, or, when
ground into sand, it can be, and is, sold as sugar by a grocer. It is
constantly being utilised in one or other of these directions; and so
with all other objects. But the necessity for a North or a South Pole
has yet to be demonstrated.

"The statement that the North Pole was put there by the Castle
authorities is one which I do not believe, for I am assured that at
every perio