e Town Hall,
with the Mayor in the chair. No very great enthusiasm was shown, and
when the Mayor, in proposing the health of our visitors, alluded to
the friendly rivalry of the two nations in commerce and the arts of
peace, the Colonel pulled him back into his seat and begged him not
to proceed. "_Maul halten_," he said. The three Labour members of the
Council were afterwards arrested for not having joined with sufficient
heartiness in the singing of "_Deutschland ueber Alles_."

_Wednesday_.--A state of siege has been declared in Dartlebury, and
we are all living under martial law. Lord Gruffen was arrested for
having knocked up against a soldier. The magistrates, on leaving the
police-court, were handcuffed and removed to barracks. A crisis is
evidently approaching.

_Thursday_.--An insurrection started this morning. A huge crowd
attacked the barracks and overpowered all resistance. Blood flowed
like water, but in an hour all was over. There is a strong feeling
that the experiment of the Alliance Committee was a rash one, though
no doubt it was well meant. We live and learn.

* * * * *

LOOP! LOOP!!

(_A STORY OF AERIAL PROWESS IN THE PROVINCES._)

They said, "He goes a-tumbling through the hollow
And trackless empyrean like a clown,
Head pointed to the earth where weaklings wallow,
Feet up toward the stars; not such renown
Even our lord himself, the bright Apollo,
Gets in his gilded car. For one bob down
You shall behold the thing." "Right-o," I said,
Clapping the old brown bay leaves on my head.

So to the hangars. Time, about eleven,
The air full chill, the ground a mess of muck,
And long time gazed I on the wintry heaven
And thought of many a deed of Saxon pluck;
How DRAKE, for instance, good old DRAKE of Devon,
Played bowls at Plymouth Hoe. Twelve-thirty struck.
No one had vaulted through the air's abyss;
DRAKE would have plunged tail up an hour ere this.

Brief interval for lunch, and then a drizzle
Fell on the dreary field. Like some dead moth
The thing remained. Chagrin commenced to sizzle,
And certain people cried, "A thillingth loth."
Others, "Hey, Mister Airman, it's a swizzle!"
Then a stern man came out, and with a cloth
Lightly, as one well used to such a feat,
Swaddled the brute's propeller and its seat.

The skies grew darkling, and there went a rumour,
"The t