rder
insult. And meanwhile a pop-corn wagon will be whistling a blithe if
monotonous tune in trial if there be pennies in the crowd. Or a waffle may
be purchased if you be a Croesus, ladled exclusively for you and dropped
on the gridiron with a splutter. It is a sweet reward after you have
knocked a three-bagger and stolen home, and is worth a search in all your
eleven pockets for any last penny that may be skulking in the fuzz.

Or perhaps there is such wealth upon your person that there is still a
restless jingle. In such case you will cross the street to a shop that
ministers to the wants of youth. In the window is displayed a box of
marbles--glassies, commonies, and a larger browny adapted to the purpose
of "pugging," by reason of the violence with which it seems to respond to
the impact of your thumb. Then there are baseballs of graded excellence
and seduction. And tops. Time is needed for the choosing of a top. First
you stand tiptoe with nose just above the glass and make your trial
selection. Pay no attention to the color, for that's the way a girl
chooses! Black is good, without womanish taint. Then you wiggle the peg
for its tightness and demand whether it be screwed in like an honest top.
And finally, before putting your money down, you will squint upon its
roundness. Then slam the door and yell your presence to the street!

Or do you come on softer errand? In the rear of the shop is a parlor with
a base-burner and virtuous mottoes on the walls--a cosy room with vases.
And here it is they serve cream-puffs.... For safe transfer you balance
the puff in your fingers and take an enveloping bite, emerging with a
prolonged suck for such particles as may not have come safely across, and
bending forward with stomach held in. I'll leave you in this refreshment;
for if the money hold, you will gobble until the ringing of the bell.

By this time, as you may imagine, the person with the sagging pockets whom
I told you of, has arrived in the center of the city where already he is
practicing such device of penny-picking as he may be master of.

[Illustration]

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

TO A MOURNFUL AIR

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

TO A MOURNFUL AIR

_To any one of several editors._

Dear Sir: I paid a visit to your city several days since and humored
myself with ambitious thoughts in the contemplation of your editorial
windows. I was tempted to rap at your door and request an audience but
modesty held