just as bad as swags;
They're never made to measure.
To see the world, your simple trick
Is but to take a walking-stick--
Assume an air of pleasure,
And tell the people near and far
You stroll about because you are
A Gentleman of Leisure.'

[Illustration]

'You have solved the problem,' said Bunyip Bluegum, and, wringing his
friend's hand, he ran straight home, took his Uncle's walking-stick, and
assuming an air of pleasure, set off to see the world.

He found a great many things to see, such as dandelions, and ants, and
traction engines, and bolting horses, and furniture being removed,
besides being kept busy raising his hat, and passing the time of day
with people on the road, for he was a very well-bred young fellow,
polite in his manners, graceful in his attitudes, and able to converse
on a great variety of subjects, having read all the best Australian
poets.

Unfortunately, in the hurry of leaving home, he had forgotten to
provide himself with food, and at lunch time found himself attacked by
the pangs of hunger.

'Dear me,' he said, 'I feel quite faint. I had no idea that one's
stomach was so important. I have everything I require, except food; but
without food everything is rather less than nothing.

'I've got a stick to walk with.
I've got a mind to think with.
I've got a voice to talk with.
I've got an eye to wink with.
I've lots of teeth to eat with,
A brand new hat to bow with,
A pair of fists to beat with,
A rage to have a row with.
No joy it brings
To have indeed
A lot of things
One does not need.
Observe my doleful plight.
For here am I without a crumb
To satisfy a raging tum--
O what an oversight!'

As he was indulging in these melancholy reflexions he came round a bend
in the road, and discovered two people in the very act of having lunch.
These people were none other than Bill Barnacle, the sailor, and his
friend, Sam Sawnoff, the penguin bold.

Bill was a small man with a large hat, a beard half as large as his hat,
and feet half as large as his beard. Sam Sawnoff's feet were sitting
down and his body was standing up, because his feet were so short and
his body so long that he had to do both together. They had a pudding in
a basin, and the smell that arose from it was so delightful that Bunyip
Bluegum was quite unable to pass on.

[Illustration]

'Excuse me,' he said, raising his hat, 'but am I right in supposing that