he saw an elephant
Upon the mantelpiece;
He looked again, and found it was
His sister's husband's niece,"

and then proceeds to throw doubt upon my veracity.

[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BARTLETT.]

"Mr. Harry Furniss has been suffering from a delusion very similar
to that of the subject of Mr. Lewis Carroll's nonsense-verse. Mr.
Bartlett is a man of few words, though what he does say is both
interesting and humorous. Without replying"--(the _Westminster_
representative required him to tell him all he knew about my
snake)--"he took up his pen and, on the back of a visiting-card
which lay before him, he drew a circle as large as the card would
hold, the ends of which did not quite meet. 'There,' he said, 'that
is about the actual size of Mr. Harry Furniss's snake. You see its
size is not alarming, and its nature is not venomous. In fact, it
is absolutely harmless.'

"'But it is of rare variety, is it not?'

"'The variety is not common, certainly, though I have known it for
the last eighteen or twenty years. It is known as the small crowned
snake (_Coronella laevis_), and is occasionally found in Hampshire
and in one or two other counties. The first specimen I had was
brought to me from Hampshire by a friend of mine, a young officer.
As he pulled it out of his hand-bag in this room I saw it biting at
his fingers. I thought it was a viper; but, of course, on examining
it I soon saw what it really was. It has no fangs, and it is, as I
said, quite harmless. At its full size it may measure from fourteen
to sixteen inches. As for its rarity, here is a fairly long list of
the specimens we have had, and we have several at present. But come
along to the reptile house and see it for yourself.'

"Arrived, at the reptile house, Mr. Bartlett called the keeper, and
in solemn tones and with a grave countenance requested him to 'show
this gentleman Mr. Harry Furniss's serpent.' The man looked puzzled
for a moment, and then gradually a broad grin spread over his face
as he replied: 'Oh, yes, sir, if I can find it, but I am not sure
about that,' However, he removed the lid from a glass case
containing several lively little creatures just about as large as a
fresh-water eel at the age at which it is known to the small boy
who tries to catch it in his hands as