leasant situations into which we have got ourselves, are in my
opinion doing a noble work. The theatre enables us to woo forgetfulness
of self successfully for a few brief hours, and I have seen the time when
an hour or two of relief from actual cares has resulted in great good.
Nevertheless, the gentleman is not elected; and if Mrs. Pedagog will
kindly refill my cup, I will ask you to join me in draining a toast to
the health of the pastor of this flock, whose conscience, paradoxical as
it may seem, is the most frequently worn and yet the least thread-bare
of the consciences represented at this table."

This easy settlement of her difficulty was so pleasing to Mrs. Pedagog
that the Idiot's request was graciously acceded to, and Mr. Whitechoker's
health was drank in coffee, after which the Idiot requested the genial
gentleman who occasionally imbibed to join him privately in eating
buckwheat cakes to the health of Mr. Davenport.

"I haven't any doubt that he is worthy of the attention," he said; "and
if you will lend me the money to buy the tickets, I'll take you around
to the Criterion to-night, where he is playing. I don't know whether he
plays Hamlet or A Hole in the Roof; but, at any rate, we can have a good
time between the acts."

IV

"I see the men are at work on the pavements this morning," said the
School-Master, gazing out through the window at a number of laborers at
work in the street.

"Yes," said the Idiot, calmly, "and I think Mrs. Pedagog ought to sue the
Department of Public Works for libel. If she hasn't a case no maligned
person ever had."

"What are you saying, sir?" queried the landlady, innocently.

"I say," returned the Idiot, pointing out into the street, "that you
ought to sue the Department of Public Works for libel. They've got their
sign right up against your house. _No Thorough Fare_ is what it says.
That's libel, isn't it, Mr. Brief?"

"It is certainly a fatal criticism of a boarding-house," observed Mr.
Brief, with a twinkle in his eye, "but Mrs. Pedagog could hardly secure
damages on that score."

"I don't know about that," returned the Idiot. "As I understand it, it is
an old maxim of the law that the greater the truth the greater the libel.
Mrs. Pedagog ought to receive a million----By-the-way, what have we this
morning?"

"We have steak and fried potatoes, sir," replied Mrs. Pedagog, frigidly.
"And I desire to add, that one who criticises the table as much as you do