geant? or ought I to offer a few to the
sergeant with some _jeu d'esprit_--never coarse and never cruel--about
bully beef? Of such are the complexities with which a Base harasses the
soul of an officer nurtured in the genial simplicity of trench life.

* * * * *

From an account of the Peace demonstration in Berlin:--

"The people simply turned up themselves, and everyone was highly
turned up themselves, and everyone was highly pleased with the
result."--_Egyptian Mail._

It seems to have been a complete revolution.

* * * * *

LITERARY LISPINGS.

The "motive" of Mrs. Pumfrey Lord's new novel is Christian Science, and
the hero, the Duke of Southminster, is understood to be a composite
portrait of Lord ROSEBERY and Mr. GLADSTONE. The character of the evil
genius of the plot, Lord Rufus Doldrum, is partly modelled on
ALCIBIADES, but in its main lines is reminiscent of Mrs. EDDY and Major
WINSTON CHURCHILL. On the other hand the eccentric Lord Wymondham, who
creates a sensation by appearing at a Cabinet meeting in
accordion-pleated pyjamas, is understood to be an entirely imaginary
personage. The novel, which has been running in _Wanamaker's Weekly_,
will shortly be published by the Strongmans.

A Poet who Counts.

Mr. Ouseley Pampfield, who has been recuperating at Buxton after
spraining his ankle while getting out of his magnificent motor, is now
seeing his new volume of poems through the press. Under the arresting
title of _The Soul of a Passivist_ they will shortly be published by the
firm of Coddler and Slack.

The Jimmisons Again.

The Long Lanes will shortly publish a new "Jimmison" novel, The
_Factota_. The heroine is a young lady enamoured of the doctrine of the
economic independence of women. She enters a Draper's Emporium in
Manchester and works her way up to the post of manager, but heads a
strike of the work-girls. The claims of romance, however, are not
overlooked, for in the long run _Retta Carboy_--for that is her charming
name--wins the hand and heart of the junior partner's chauffeur, who
turns out to be son of the Earl of Ancoats. The scene in which the
Rolls-Royce, frightened by the sight of some Highland cattle, executes a
cross-cut counter-rocking skid, is one of the finest things the
Jimmisons have ever done.

Armageddon in the Making.

Governesses, so long the butt of unkindly satire, have at last come b