always been
Than any in the village seen.

'Well, tell me now, what can you do?'
'Oh, anything,' said Jim.
'Oh, anything!' said Farmer Grey;
Then looking hard at him--
'Well, drive these pigs to neighbour Pratt--
'Tis time they went, they're prime and fat.'

Jim drove the pigs from out the yard,
But, ere they'd gone a mile,
One pig went squealing down the road,
And one towards a stile;
And while Jim pondered what to do,
The naughty pig just wriggled through.

Just then the farmer chanced to pass;
'Hullo!' said he, 'what's wrong?'
And when he saw Jim's downcast face,
He laughed both loud and long.
'My lad,' said he, with knowing wink,
'You're not as clever as you think.'

C. D. BOGLE.

TORN TO RAGS.

The curious and interesting 'little ways' of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the
designer of the Suez Canal, gained for him the favour of many prominent
Egyptian officials, when he was in Egypt, and he was often able to get
over a difficulty and do a kind act by unusual means. Among his duties
was the inspection of a large number of convicts in the Egyptian
galleys. Some of these were political prisoners--rather more than four
hundred unfortunate Syrians, who had been brought from Syria by Ibrahim
Pasha, son of Mehemet Ali, the famous Viceroy.

The Syrian prisoners begged the French count to help them to freedom. De
Lesseps had no real power to do this, but he had a kind heart, and did
his best to procure the release of the prisoners.

When, however, he mentioned the subject to Mehemet Ali, the Viceroy
shook his head.

'These men,' said he, 'are my son's captives, and in such a matter I
could no more handle him than I could handle the lightning.'

De Lesseps would not be put off. Mehemet, impressed by his persistence,
and wishing to stand well with the French, at last told De Lesseps that
he would manage to get five prisoners released quietly every week, until
all were free.

He kept his word, and this piecemeal business of freeing the prisoners
began. But very soon De Lesseps' house was besieged by the relatives and
friends of the Syrians still imprisoned, all begging him to use his
influence to get their own special friends included in the next batch to
be set free.

The anxious folk thronged round the Frenchman, and in their eagerness
plucked at his sleeve and tore it. He resolved to turn this fact to
account with