_Canto III--The Traitor's Doom_

The Jones had houses many on
The avenues and squares,
And hired the young Avenger Smith
To see to the repairs,
And Smith put faucets in, and cocks,
And meters, eke, and taps,
Connections, T-joints, sewer pipes,
Basins and water-traps;
He tore the walls and ripped the floors
To reach the pipes beyond,
And excavations in the street
And 'neath the side-walk yawned;
And daily as he entered up
The items in his book
The plumber's face wore a serene
And retrospective look.
And Jones would wring his hands and cry,
"Woe, woe, and utter woe!
Ah me! that taxes should be so high
And rents should be so low!"
Then he would give the Smith the house
As instalment on account
Of its repairs, and notes of hand
For the rest of the amount.

_Canto IV--Avenged at Last_

Now Smith had been for a dozen years
In the practical plumbing line,
And the bills of Smith did not grind slow,
And they ground extremely fine.
Terrace by terrace, house by house,
The lands of Jones he took,
And heavier still the balance was
Writ in that fatal book.
At last, no property nor cash
Had he, so he did fail,
And the avenging plumber locked
Him up in Ludlow Jail.
His heartless creditor he besought
For mercy in his need.
"Nay, nay, no mercy, lie and rot,"
Quoth he, "in jail, like Tweed.
For I have sworn avenged to be
On thee, thy kin and kith;
Rememberest thou Belinda Jane?
I am the son of Smith!!!"

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

A Venetian Merchant who was lolling in the lap of luxury was accosted
upon the Rialto by a friend who had not seen him for many months. "How
is this?" cried the latter. "When I last saw you your gaberdine was out
at elbows, and now you sail in your own gondola." "True," replied the
Merchant, "but since then I have met with serious losses, and been
obliged to compound with my creditors for ten cents on the dollar."

_Moral._--Composition is the life of trade.

THE UNFORTUNATE ELEPHANT

An Elephant had been endeavouring to rive the bole of a knotted oak
with his trunk, but the tree closed upon that member, detaining it, and
causing the hapless _Elphas Africanus_ intense pain. He shook the
forest with his trumpeting, and all the beasts gathered around him.
"Ah, ha, my friend," said