was a a small town in Southern
Illinois. There was no girl. He was a gentleman of color, and the
registrar was having considerable trouble explaining the whys and
wherefors of the registration. At last Rastus showed a faint glimmer of
intelligence.

"Dis heyah registrashum fo' de draf' am a whole lot like 'lection
votin', ain't it?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes," answered the kindly registrar.

Rastus scratched his head in troubled doubt. He was thinking deeply.
Presently his brow cleared and a smile spread over his face. He had
come to a decision.

"Den I votes for Julius Jackson ter be drafted," he said. "I nebah did
hab no use fo' dat niggah."

GETTING EVEN

James, 4 years old, had been naughty to the point of evoking a whipping
from his long-suffering mother, and all day long a desire for revenge
rankled in his little bosom.

At length bedtime came, and, kneeling beside her, he implored a blessing
on each member of the family individually, his mother alone being
conspicuous by her absence. Then, rising from his devout posture, the
little suppliant fixed a keenly triumphant look upon her face, saying,
as he turned to climb into bed:

"I s'pose you noticed you wasn't in it."

ARCHIE'S NECK

Little Willie--in small boy stories the central figure is nearly always
named Little Willie--came running into the house, stuttering in his
excitement.

"Mommer," he panted, "do you know Archie Sloan's neck?"

"Do I know what?" asked his mother.

"Do you know Archie Sloan's neck?" repeated her offspring.

"I know Archie Sloan," answered the puzzled parent; "so I suppose I must
know his neck. Why?"

"Well," said Willie, "he just now fell into the back-water up to it."

THEIR ONE TOPIC

"The Kaiser and Hindenburg," said Edsell Ford, son of Henry Ford, "and
the crown prince and the other German big-wigs can never mention the war
without saying that it was forced upon them, that they are fighting in
defense of the fatherland, that their enemies are to blame for all the
bloodshed, and so forth.

"The way the Germans insist on this defense talk of theirs, in season
and out of season," he went on, "reminds me of the colored preacher who
always preached on infant baptism.

"A deputation waited on him one evening and asked him if he wouldn't
please drop infant baptism for a time. He said he'd try to meet the
deputation's wishes and the following Sunday he announced as his text,
'Adam, Where Art Thou?'

"Thi