wn on his, keeping to his right, and we collided.

"Keep to your left, you fool!" I cried as the crash came.

"_Mais non! le droit, M'sieur._"

Here was a deadlock indeed. It was an English ship, therefore the
English rule of the road should be maintained. On the other hand, the
fact that we were still in French waters was in his favour. But my
stubborn British will would not give way, and Heaven knows how long
we should have remained there had not one of the invalids grunted,
"Caan't thee keep t' the rule o' the waater?" and I saw a dignified
way out of the difficulty. I withdrew to the right, and we passed on
with no animosity towards one another. Still, it was a near thing for
the Entente.

* * * * *

"The unfortunate lady was examining an unloaded pistol when it
went off and caused instantaneous death."--_Times of Ceylon_.

In the circumstances we trust we are justified in thinking this tragic
intelligence to be the result of a false report.

* * * * *

THE NEW GAME.

If Hubbard were not my friend I should describe him as one of the most
amiable and most muddle-headed of mankind. Under the influence of his
mind things that are quite clear become confused and lose themselves
in long vistas of statement and sub-statement and sub-sub-statement,
and a plain tale is darkened until at the end nothing is left of what
it originally was. If you don't believe me listen to what follows.

We were sitting in the drawing-room one evening recently; the various
topics of the day having been more or less exhausted, somebody
proposed a round game as a diversion. Hubbard saw his chance and
dashed in. "Yes, by Jove," he said, "let's have the new game of
'Likenesses;' it's a perfectly ripping game. I played it the other
day and never laughed so much in my life."

"How do you play it?" I said.

"Oh," said Hubbard, "it's one of the easiest games in the world. All
you have to do is to keep your mind clear and remember what you are
driving at."

"Right," I said. "But what are you driving at?"

"Well," said Hubbard, "one of us goes out or stops his ears and the
rest choose somebody."

"There's nothing very new about that," I said; "I've played it a
thousand times."

"Wait a bit," said Hubbard, "and don't be so ready to plunge. I tell
you this is an entirely new and original game."

"Let him," said somebody else, "get on with it in his own way or we
s