And then in due course round the gas glowing red Brown's choicest cigars shall be lit, And, if we like resting our feet on the bed, We may--it won't matter a bit. Our talk of old times shall be joyous and bright, Undisturbed we will gossip like billy-o, And I shan't break away to bid Brown a good night; 'Twould savour of needless punctilio.
Dear Tom, since I love you the best of them all, Call round here whenever you care, And, if you should run against Brown in the hall, Just give him an insolent stare. And when, from rusticity taking a rest, You come up to London and meet me, Remember the evenings when you were my guest, And take me out, Thomas, and treat me.
[Illustration: _Zealous Boy Scout._ "YOU CAN CROSS BY THIS BRIDGE, SIR. IT WILL SAVE YOU A LONG WALK ROUND."
_Cautious Stout Party._ "THANK YOU, MY BOY, BUT I'M AFRAID IT WOULD HARDLY BEAR ME."
_Zealous Boy Scout._ "OH, THAT'S ALL RIGHT, SIR. WE HAVE FIRST AID AND AMBULANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE!"]
(_By Mr. Punch's Staff of Learned Clerks._)
The author of _Pantomime_ (HUTCHINSON) has placed me in something of a quandary. In an ordinary way, finding a story with this title, in which moreover the chief characters are spoken of as Princess and Principal Boy, and the narrative is broken every now and then by fantastical little dialogues with Fairies, I should have said at once that here was a clever young writer whom a natural admiration for the work of Mr. DION CLAYON CALTHROP had betrayed into the sincerest form of flattery. But Mr. (or perhaps Miss) G. B. STERN has disarmed me by an open avowal of discipleship and a dedication of the tale to Mr. CALTHROP himself. It is a quite pleasant tale. Personally I may confess to a preference, which I suspect most readers will share, for getting this precise form of whimsical romance from the original firm; but there is more than enough spirit in G. B. STERN'S work to persuade me that he or she will one day be worth reading in an individual and unborrowed style. Two things in this story of _Nan_ pleased me especially. One was the chapter relating her experiences at the Dramatic Academy, which is full of life and actuality, and should be read by all middle-aged supporters of that institution who wish to obtain a glimpse of its hard-working and high-spirited heart. The other is the episode of the muddled elopement, in which _Nan_ and _Tony_, having got as far as Dover on their way to the Higher Liberty, severally----But I don't think I will spoil for you the delightful comedy of what happens at Dover by repeating it. This at least shows G. B. STERN as the owner of a happy gift of humour. Let us have some more of it soon, please, but if possible in a more original setting.