"May won't be home till after dark," said Phil. "She could not get away
from duty to meet us. I shall telegraph to her that we have arrived,
and that I shall meet her under the portico of the Post-Office and fetch
her home this evening."

"It is an amazing thing that telegraph! To think that one can send
messages and make appointments so quickly!" remarked Mrs Maylands.

"Why, mother," said Phil, with a laugh, "that is nothing to what can
be--and is--done with it every day. I have a friend in the City who
does a great part of his business with India by telegraph. The charge
is four shillings and sixpence a word, and if a word has more than ten
letters it is charged as two words. A registered address also costs a
guinea, so, you see, telegraphic correspondence with India is expensive.
Business men have therefore fallen on the plan of writing out lists of
words, each of which means a longish sentence. This plan is so
thoroughly carried out that books like thick dictionaries are now
printed and regularly used.--What would you think, now, of `_Obstinate
Kangaroo_' for a message?"

"I would think it nonsense, Phil."

"Nevertheless, mother, it covers sense. A Quebec timber-merchant
telegraphed these identical words the other day to a friend of mine, and
when the friend turned up the words `obstinate kangaroo' in his
corresponding code, he found the translation to be, `Demand is improving
for Ohio or Michigan white oak (planks), 16 inches and upwards.'"

"You _don't_ say so!" exclaimed Mrs Maylands, raising both hands and
eyebrows.

"Yes I do, mother, and in my City friend's code the word `_Blazing_'
means `_Quality is approved_,' while `_Blissful_' signifies `What is the
smallest quantity you require?'"

"Do you mean, Phil," asked the widow, with a perplexed look, "that if I
were a man of business, and wanted to ask a customer in India _what was
the smallest quantity of a thing he required_, I should have to
telegraph only the word `_Blissful_'?"

"Only that, mother. A blissful state of brevity to have come to, isn't
it? And some of the telegraph clerks fall into queer mistakes, too,
owing to their ignorance. One of the rules is that the words sent must
be _bona fide_ words--not a mere unmeaning arrangement of letters. My
City friend told me that on three different occasions telegrams of his
were refused, because the words were not known, yet each of them was
taken from the Bible! One of the telegrams