ally.

The members were sucking blissfully while Lorraine went round and
collected the literary portion of the entertainment.

"Only eight papers to-day! You slackers! Audrey, where's yours? Haven't
had time to think of anything? How weak! Doreen, I expected the Fifth to
do its duty. Thanks, Phoebe, I'm glad you've written something, and
you too, Beryl."

"Please keep mine till the _very_ last, and don't read it at all if
there isn't much time!" implored Phoebe.

"You mustn't read mine first!" fluttered Dorothy.

"Nor mine!"

"Nor mine!"

"Look here! Somebody has got to come first! I shall do it by lot; I'll
write your names on slips of paper and shuffle them. Lend me a pencil,
Patsie. There! I'll stir them round, and Audrey shall draw one."

Audrey picked out at random one of the little twisted scraps of paper,
and the lot fell upon the protesting Dorothy. She rose apologetically.

"They're not much," she murmured. "Just a few 'Ruthless Rhymes', that's
all.

Anna Maria
Fell into the fire,
She was burnt to a cinder.
Pa said: 'Let's open winder!'

In a river in the city
Jack was drowned
And never found.
Mother said it was a pity
His new boots went down with him.
They'd have fitted Brother Jim.

A bomb dropped on to the house and blew
Beds, tables and chairs to Timbuctoo.
'Dear, dear how annoying!' murmured Aunt May,
'We'd spring-cleaned the place only yesterday!'

Poor little Johnnie, he swallowed his rattle,
It stuck in his throat and he gave up life's battle;
They couldn't get Johnnie to 'ope eyes and peep'
But they shook up the rattle and sold it off cheap."

The next on the list was Lorraine's own contribution.

DIARY OF A GIRL IN THE YEAR A.D. 4000

To-day I used my new air wings, and flew up the Thames valley
to see the remains of ancient London, recently excavated. It is
an extraordinary sight, and certainly seems to throw some light
upon the manners and customs of that quaint old nation, the
English of two thousand years ago. In the museum are some weird
specimens of public conveyances, notably a thing called a
"tramcar" in which all sorts and conditions of people sat
squeezed up side by side, and were whirled along the street,
instead of the street moving as it does now, to convey
passengers without any trouble. There were also machines called
bicycles, consisting of