think there must be a mistake in the
Catalogue--I don't see any breakfast things--they're cleaning fish,
and what's a "Porth!" Would you mark that--or not?

_Her Comp._ Oh, I _think_ so.

_The S. L._ I don't know. I've marked such a quantity already and
the lead won't hold out much longer. Oh, it's by HOOK, R. A. Then I
suppose it's _sure_ to be all right. I've marked it, dear.

_Duet by Two Dreadfully Severe Young Ladies, who paint a little on
China._ Oh, my _dear_, look at that. Did you ever see such a thing?
Isn't it too perfectly _awful_? And there's a thing! Do come and look
at this horror over here. A "_Study_," indeed. I should just think it
_was_! Oh, MAGGIE, don't be so satirical, or I shall die! No, but
_do_ just see this--isn't it _killing?_ They get worse and worse every
year, I declare! [_And so on._

IN GALLERY NO. V.

(_Two Prosaic Persons come upon a little picture, by_ Mr.
SWAN, _of a boy lying on a rock, piping to fishes._)

_First P. P._ _That's_ a rum thing!

_Second P. P._ Yes, I wasn't aware myself that fishes were so partial
to music.

_First P. P._ They may be--out there--(_perceiving that the boy is
unclad_)--but it's peculiar altogether--they look like herrings to me.

_Second P. P._ Yes--or mackerel. But (_tolerantly_) I suppose it's a
fancy subject. [_They consider that this absolves them from taking any
further interest in it, and pass on._

IN GALLERY NO. XI.

_An Old Lady (who judges Art from a purely Moral Standpoint, halts
approvingly before a picture of a female orphan)._ Now, that
really _is_ a nice picture, my dear--a plain black dress and white
cuffs--just what I _like_ to see in a young person!

_The S. L. (her enthusiasm greatly on the wane, and her temper
slightly affected)._ LUCY, I _wish_ you wouldn't worry so--it's quite
impossible to stop and look at _everything_. If you wanted your tea as
badly as _I_ do! Mark that one? What, when they neither of them have a
single _thing_ on! Never, LUCY,--and I'm surprised at your suggesting
it! Oh, you meant the next one? h'm--no, I _can't_ say I care for it.
Well, if I _do_ mark it, I shall only put a tick--for it really is
_not_ worth a cross!

COMING OUT.

_The Man who always makes the Right Remark._ H'm. Haven't seen
anything I could carry away with me.

_His Flippant Friend._ Too many people about, eh? Never mind, old
chap, you _may_ manage to sneak an umbrella down-stairs--_I_ won't say
anything!

[