ravelling through a
beautiful country, by the dusty highway which leads to the City of
Prosperous Obscurity. Lured by the flowers and the shade and charmed by
the songs of birds which invited to woodland paths and green fields, his
imagination fired by glimpses of golden domes and glittering palaces in
the distance on either hand, the Young Politician said:

"Let us, I beseech thee, turn aside from this comfortless road leading,
thou knowest whither, but not I. Let us turn our backs upon duty and
abandon ourselves to the delights and advantages which beckon from every
grove and call to us from every shining hill. Let us, if so thou wilt,
follow this beautiful path, which, as thou seest, hath a guide-board
saying, 'Turn in here all ye who seek the Palace of Political
Distinction.'"

"It is a beautiful path, my son," said the Old Politician, without either
slackening his pace or turning his head, "and it leadeth among pleasant
scenes. But the search for the Palace of Political Distinction is beset
with one mighty peril."

"What is that?" said the Young Politician.

"The peril of finding it," the Old Politician replied, pushing on.

The Thoughtful Warden

The Warden of a Penitentiary was one day putting locks on the doors of
all the cells when a mechanic said to him:

"Those locks can all be opened from the inside--you are very imprudent."

The Warden did not look up from his work, but said:

"If that is called imprudence, I wonder what would be called a thoughtful
provision against the vicissitudes of fortune."

The Treasury and the Arms

A Public Treasury, feeling Two Arms lifting out its contents, exclaimed:

"Mr. Shareman, I move for a division."

"You seem to know something about parliamentary forms of speech," said
the Two Arms.

"Yes," replied the Public Treasury, "I am familiar with the hauls of
legislation."

The Christian Serpent

A Rattlesnake came home to his brood and said: "My children, gather about
and receive your father's last blessing, and see how a Christian dies."

"What ails you, Father?" asked the Small Snakes.

"I have been bitten by the editor of a partisan journal," was the reply,
accompanied by the ominous death-rattle.

The Broom of the Temple

The city of Gakwak being about to lose its character of capital of the
province of Ukwuk, the Wampog issued a proclamation convening all the
male residents in council in the Temple of Ul to devis