at the
thought of her husband, obviously on the eve of a great advance,
or even lying out hungry and wounded in No Man's Land (she hovered
between the alternatives), but still cheery and finding time and
energy to write to his wife.

It was only a too observant neighbour who discovered that the postmark
was London, S.E. But even she has not yet decided whether Elijah Tiddy
is of intention the biggest liar in the East Mudshires, or whether he
only saw Waterloo Station with the eye of the literary man.

* * * * *

HISTORY PLAGIARIZES FROM FICTION.

"Mr. Ginnell: Everybody in the House is excited but myself.
Even you, Mr. Speaker, are excited."--_Parliamentary Debates_.

"'It's my opinion, sir,' said Mr. Stiggins ... that this
meeting is drunk, sir. Brother Tadger, sir ... _you_ are
drunk, sir.'"--_Pickwick Papers_.

* * * * *

AN OLD SONG RESUNG.

"O Ever since the world began
There never was and never can
Be such a very useful man
As the railway porter."

So ran the rhyme that in my youth
I thought perhaps outstripped the truth,
But now, when longer in the tooth,
Freely I endorse it.

In calling out a station's name
He is undoubtedly to blame
For failing, as a rule, to aim
At clear enunciation;

But, since the War, he hasn't struck
Or downed his tools--I mean his truck--
And plays the game with patient pluck
Like a sturdy Briton.

He's often old and far from strong,
But still he doesn't "make a song"
About his lot, but jogs along
Steadily and bravely.

He doesn't greet with surly frowns
Or naughty adjectives and nouns
A tip of just a brace of "browns"
Where he once got sixpence.

But better far than any meed
Of praise embodied in this screed
Is ERIC GEDDES' boast that he'd
Been a railway porter.

* * * * *

THE TOWER THAT PASSED IN THE NIGHT.

It was in the beginning of things, when the gunners of the new army
were very new indeed, and the 0000th Battery had just taken up
its first position on the Western Front. As soon as the guns were
satisfactorily placed the O.C. began a careful survey of the enemy
positions. Slowly he ran his field-glasses over the seemingly peaceful
landscape, and the first thing he noticed was a small, deserted,
half-ruined tower with ivy hanging in dark masses down its sides.

"We must have tha