The Room was filled with reeking smoke.
And in the darkness shrieks and yells
Were mingled with Electric Bells,
And falling masonry and groans,
And crunching, as of broken bones,
And dreadful shrieks, when, worst of all,
The House itself began to fall!
It tottered, shuddering to and fro,
Then crashed into the street below--
Which happened to be Savile Row.

* * *

When Help arrived, among the Dead

[Illustration]

Were

Cousin Mary,

[Illustration]

Little Fred,

[Illustration]

The Footmen

[Illustration]

(both of them),

[Illustration]

The Groom,

[Illustration]

The man that cleaned the Billiard-Room,

[Illustration]

The Chaplain, and

[Illustration]

The Still-Room Maid.
And I am dreadfully afraid
That Monsieur Champignon, the Chef,
Will now be

[Illustration]

permanently deaf--
And both his
Aides

[Illustration]

are much the same;
While George, who was in part to blame,
Received, you will regret to hear,
A nasty lump

[Illustration]

behind the ear.

MORAL

The moral is that little Boys
Should not be given dangerous Toys.

CHARLES AUGUSTUS FORTESCUE,

_Who always Did what was Right, and so accumulated an Immense Fortune._

The nicest child I ever knew
Was Charles Augustus Fortescue.
He never lost his cap, or tore
His stockings or his pinafore:
In eating Bread he made no Crumbs,
He was extremely fond of sums,

[Illustration]

To which, however, he preferred
The Parsing of a Latin Word--
He sought, when it was in his power,
For information twice an hour,
And as for finding Mutton-Fat
Unappetising, far from that!
He often, at his Father's Board,
Would beg them, of his own accord,

[Illustration]

To give him, if they did not mind,
The Greasiest Morsels they could find--
His Later Years did not belie
The Promise of his Infancy.

In Public Life he always tried
To take a judgment Broad and Wide;

[Illustration]

In Private, none was more than he
Renowned for quiet courtesy.
He rose at once in his Career,
And long before his Fortieth Year
Had wedded
Fifi,

[Illustration]

Only Child
Of Bunyan