etic
little reproach to his 'brothers' in Nyasa-land for leaving him without
a letter.

'And what? all the people who knew us, have they finished to die' (that
is, are they all dead?), 'or are they alive and laugh? Brethren of
Mbamba, how are ye without a hen to buy stamps?'

A fowl in Central Africa, it may be explained, costs about a penny, and
is the usual means of barter, so that stamps are bought with hens. But
let no one think an African fowl is as plump as its English sister; on
the contrary, it is such a poor, skinny thing, that three of them form
the usual breakfast for a European, who after all often gets up hungry.

X.

MAY DAY.

The village children were making great preparations for May Day, and
none were more excited than Alice and May Risdon, for it would be little
May's birthday, and she had been looking forward to it for a long time.

Early in the morning, before some people were out of their beds, the
children would start maying, carrying garlands and bunches of flowers
tied on poles, and calling at each house to sing the May greeting. Some
would give them pennies, and others only smiles, but the fun and the
frolic were what the children loved, and they would be certain to have
plenty if the sun shone and the skies were blue overhead.

On the last day of April, Alice and May hurried home from school, for
they meant to start off directly after tea to pick the flowers they
would want.

'I do wish Mother would give me a ribbon for my garland,' little May
said, as she ran along, trying to keep pace with her elder sister.

'I don't think she will,' Alice replied. 'Mother says pennies are none
too plentiful, and she cannot waste them on finery for us, so I am sure
she will not buy ribbon just to decorate our flowers.'

'Annie Mock had hers tied with a lovely bow of white satin last year,'
May said, with a sigh. 'I don't want to go maying if I have no ribbon
for my flowers.'

May was just a little bit spoilt because she was much younger than
Alice, and her elder sister was so devoted to her that she always
thought of her first, and gave way to her in everything.

'We will find the very prettiest flowers we can, dear, and then nobody
will miss the ribbon.'

'Do coax Mother to buy me a bit,' May begged, but Alice knew that this
would be quite useless.

How she wished, though, that she could satisfy her little sister! If
only she tried hard enough, perhaps she would be able to think of