errand. When at last it was learned that she had told
them the truth, it was too late, the Duke and his wife having made good
their escape.

In France, the person who is April-fooled is called _poisson d'Avril_.
Upon a certain occasion a French lady stole a watch from a friend on the
First of April. The theft having been discovered, and the lady accused
of having taken the watch, she endeavored to pass off the affair as _un
poisson d'Avril_.

Having denied that the watch was in her possession, her rooms were
searched, and the missing article found upon a chimney-piece. When shown
the watch the thief coolly replied: "Yes; I think I have made the
messenger a fine _poisson d'Avril_."

However, the magistrate ordered that she be confined in prison until the
First of April following, "_comme un poisson d' Avril_."

[Illustration]

In England, the custom of April-fooling is practiced very much as it is
in the United States. "A knowing boy will despatch a younger brother to
see a public statue descend from its pedestal at a particular appointed
hour. A crew of giggling servant-maids will get hold of some simple
swain, and send him to a bookseller's shop for the 'History of Eve's
Grandmother,' or to a chemist's for a pennyworth of 'pigeon's milk,' or
to the cobbler's for a little '_strap_-oil,' in which last case the
messenger secures a hearty application of the strap to his shoulders,
and is sent home in a state of bewilderment as to what the affair means.
The urchins in the street make a sport of calling to some passing beau
to look to his coat-skirts; when he either finds them with a piece of
paper pinned to them or not; in either of which cases he is saluted as
an 'April-fool!'"

[Illustration: FIRST OF APRIL DANGER.]

It has been said that "what compound is to simple addition, so is Scotch
to English April-fooling." The people living in Scotland are not content
with making a neighbor believe some single piece of absurdity, but
practice jokes upon him _ad infinitum_. Having found some unsuspecting
person, the individual playing the joke sends him away with a letter to
some friend residing two or three miles off, for the professed purpose
of asking for some useful information, or requesting a loan of some
article, while in reality the letter contains only the words:

"This is the first day of April,
Hunt the gowk another mile."

The person to whom the letter is sent at once catches the idea of the