rted. Mr.------ talked, talked, talked
as is his wont. I said nothing; I heard nothing. At the end of a mile,
Mr.------ said "Mark, are you sick? I never saw a man look so haggard
and worn and absent-minded. Say something, do!"

Drearily, without enthusiasm, I said: "Punch brothers, punch with care!
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!"

My friend eyed me blankly, looked perplexed, then said:

"I do not think I get your drift, Mark. There does not seem to be any
relevancy in what you have said, certainly nothing sad; and yet--maybe
it was the way you said the words--I never heard anything that sounded
so pathetic. What is--"

But I heard no more. I was already far away with my pitiless,
heartbreaking "blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare, buff trip slip
for a six-cent fare, pink trip slip for a three-cent fare; punch in
the presence of the passenjare." I do not know what occurred during the
other nine miles. However, all of a sudden Mr.------ laid his hand on my
shoulder and shouted:--

"Oh, wake up! wake up! wake up! Don't sleep all day! Here we are at the
Tower, man! I have talked myself deaf and dumb and blind, and never got
a response. Just look at this magnificent autumn landscape! Look at
it! look at it! Feast your eye on it! You have traveled; you have seen
boasted landscapes elsewhere. Come, now, deliver an honest opinion. What
do you say to this?"

I sighed wearily; and murmured:--

"A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare, a pink trip slip for a three-cent
fare, punch in the presence of the passenjare."

Rev. Mr. ------ stood there, very grave, full of concern, apparently,
and looked long at me; then he said:--

"Mark, there is something about this that I cannot understand. Those are
about the same words you said before; there does not seem to be anything
in them, and yet they nearly break my heart when you say them. Punch in
the--how is it they go?"

I began at the beginning and repeated all the lines.

My friend's face lighted with interest. He said:--

"Why, what a captivating jingle it is! It is almost music. It flows
along so nicely. I have nearly caught the rhymes myself. Say them over
just once more, and then I'll have them, sure."

I said them over. Then Mr. ------ said them. He made one little mistake,
which I corrected. The next time and the next he got them right. Now a
great burden seemed to tumble from my shoulders. That torturing jingle
departed out of my brain, and a grateful s