ourse it was only the tame elephant that carries the children on
its back, but to the unaccustomed eyes of the Wallypug and his party
it seemed, so they told me afterwards, some strange and awful monster
ready to devour them.

As I said, we were laughing merrily over this adventure when the
postman arrived, and the Doctor-in-Law, without asking to be excused
from the table, rushed out to meet him, and returned a few minutes
later with his arms loaded with a number of little packages and one
rather large box, which had arrived by Carter Paterson.

"Dear me, what a lot of letters," remarked his Majesty.

"Yes. Wouldn't you like to know what they are all about, eh?" inquired
the Doctor-in-Law.

"Yes, I should," admitted the Wallypug; while the faces of the
others all expressed the same curiosity.

[Illustration: A STRANGE AND AWFUL MONSTER]

"Well, I'll tell you what I'll do," said the Doctor-in-Law. "If you'll
all pay me fourpence halfpenny each, I will let you open them and see
for yourselves."

There was a little grumbling at this, but eventually the money changed
hands, and, the breakfast things having been removed, the little
packages were opened with great eagerness.

Besides a printed circular, each one contained some little article--a
pencil case, a pen knife, a comb, a sample tin of knife polish, a card
of revolving collar studs, and so on.

"Ah!" remarked the Doctor-in-Law complacently as these articles
were spread about the table; "I told you that I expected to derive a
princely revenue from my correspondence, and now I will explain to you
how it is done. I observed a great number of advertisements in the
daily papers, stating that 'A handsome income could be earned without
the slightest trouble or inconvenience, and particulars would be
forwarded to any one sending six stamps and an addressed envelope';
so I sent off about twenty, and here is the result. I see by these
circulars that I have only to sell two hundred of these little pencil
cases at half-a-crown each in order to earn 1s. 6d. commission, and
for every dozen tins of knife polish I sell, I shall be paid 1-1/2d.,
besides being able to earn 6d. a thousand by addressing envelopes for
one firm, if I supply my own envelopes."

"What's in the big box?" inquired the Rhymester.

"A dittig bachede," replied A. Fish, Esq., who had been busily engaged
in opening it.

"A what?" exclaimed the others.

"A dittig bachede for dittig socks," repeate