the bowels of the land,' is
typical of the miner. He makes his living by driving into the bowels of
the land, don't he?"

"You bet he does, and good money, too," answered Smith enthusiastically.

"Into the bowels of the land, or earth, as the case may be, have we
marched on without impediment." Handy paused here for a moment to catch
his wandering thoughts in order to explain his text. "You see, Smith,
_Richmond_ marched on without impediment. So does the miner at first,
when he has only to wrestle with the soil, sub-soil, and all that kind
of thing. Then comes Gloster, the bloody and devouring boar, typified
again by the hard and flinty rock the miner frequently encounters. For a
time there's a fierce struggle between _Richard_, as represented by the
rock, and _Richmond_, as personified by the miner. It's about an even
bet as to who wins out. The play all over; don't you see? There's a
purty lively scrimmage between the two. 'Tis nip and tuck for a time. At
length _Richard_ caves in, and _Richmond_ wins out. So with the miner,
the rock resists, then finally yields, and after that the milk and honey
of enterprise in the shape of liquid oil flows forth. Am I clear or
crude, dear boy?"

"Both!" exclaimed Smith, holding up both hands. "Handy, why in the name
of heaven were you not born rich instead of great?"

"Smith," continued Handy, "you will be the miner, I the rock--_Richmond_
and _Richard_."

"Handy, you ought to print a diagram to explain the act. The audience
may not be able to understand it if you don't."

"Map of the seat of war, eh?"

"Sure."

"Smith, did you ever look over a war map in any of the newspapers that
had special correspondents on the spot?"

"Certainly I did."

"And read his description of the scene of action?"

"Yes, of course."

"And scan the scare headlines, telegraphic accounts of the battle, split
up and continued into different parts of the paper?"

"Took in the whole shootin' match!"

"And after reading all this fine descriptive work did you chance to cast
your eagle eye over the editorial columns?"

"Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't. Generally I give the editorial
comments a rest."

"Now, then, let me ask you, after studying the war maps, and the
diagrams, and the big heads, and telegraphic dispatches, and our own
specials, etc., etc., and so forth, what conclusion did you come to on
the subject?"

"That there was a big battle fought somewhere in which there wer