e Elephant, Gavroche climbed up and then invited his
friends to come up.

"Hey, there, brat senior--see that ladder? Well, put your foot on--Now
ye ain't agoin' ter be afraid are ye? Here, give me your
hands--Now--up--There, you stand still now, till I git yer little
brother up--Here, brat junior. Oh, can't you reach that ladder? Well,
step on the Elephant's corn then--That's the way--Now--up--There! Now,
gentlemen, you're on the inside of the Elephant. Don't ye feel something
like Jonah? But stop yer talkin' now fer we're goin' straight ter bed.
This way to yer sleepin' apartments--Here, brat junior, we'll wrap you
up in this blanket."

"O, thank you, sir. It's so nice and warm."

"Well, that's what the monkeys thought. Here, senior, you take this
mattress. Ye see, I stole these from the Jardin de Plants. But I told
the animals over there that they were fer the Elephant and they said
that was all right. Are ye in bed? Now I am goin' ter suppress de
candelabra. [Blows out candle.] Whew! listen to it rain. How the rain do
be runnin' down the legs of this here house. That's first class thunder
too. Whew! that's no slouch uv a streak uv lightnin' nuther. Here, calm
down there, gentlemen, or ye'll topple over this edifice. Time ter sleep
now, good-night. Shut yer peepers!"

"Oh, sir?"

"Hey?"

"What's that noise?"

"Why--it's--rats."

"Oh, sir."

"Hey?"

"What is rats?"

"Oh--rats--is--mice."

"Sir?"

"Hey?"

"Why don't you get a cat?"

"Oh--I--I did have--a cat and--and the rats eat 'er up."

"Boo-hoo. Will they eat us up too?"

"Ah--no--they won't eat you. You ain't got enough meat on you. Besides I
got 'em all screened off with a wire. They can't get at ye. See here--Ef
yer goin' ter be afraid, take hold er my hand an' I'll lay down long
side o' yer and go ter sleep--Now I fergot ter tell you gentlemen that
when ye wake up--I'll be gone, fer business calls me early, but ye're to
make this yer home jes' as long as yer wants ter and come here jes'
whenever yer wants ter. Now fer the last time--good-night!"

FOOTNOTE:

[69] A dramatization from "Les Miserables," by Lucy Dean Jenkins.

THE HAZING OF VALIANT

ANONYMOUS

She was a small girl, but her sense of the ridiculous was tremendous.
All summer long she sat on the sand and was nice to two boys, a
sub-freshman and a sophomore. The sub-freshman's name was Valiant; he
had a complexion that women envied, he was small and dainty and sm