"FRIENDLY RIFLERY."--"MELLISH has followed his miss with an inner and two bullseyes." Very kind of MELLISH. We hope "his Miss" accepted the two bullseyes. "BOYD and GIBBS got magpies." Whatever sort of pies these may be, it is evident that, with "pies" and "bullseyes," our riflemen are fond of sweets. * * * * * [Illustration: MAGNA EST VERITAS. "MY DAUGHTER WILL NEVER GET ANOTHER PLACE WITH THE CHARACTER YOU'VE BEEN GIVING HER, MY LADY!" "I'VE ONLY TOLD THE _TRUTH_ ABOUT YOUR DAUGHTER, AND NOTHING _BUT_ THE TRUTH!" "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, TOLD ABOUT _YOU_, MY LADY?"] * * * * * THE FRENCH WOLF AND THE SIAMESE LAMB. _An Old Fable with a New Setting._ A little lamb lived by a flowing stream. A great temptation, when the heat was torrid, To thirsty souls that water's limpid gleam. At least so thought a Wolf, of aspect horrid, Who, having for some time abstained and fasted, Desired to learn how lamb--and water--tasted. He felt with pinching want his paunch was pining, Early he'd lunched, so longed the more for dining. A Cochin China rooster, lank and thin, Or something indigestible from Tonquin, For a big, sharp-set Wolf, are snacks, not meals; So down the sparkling river Lupus steals, Quite uninvited, but intent on forage, Fronting the fleecy flocks with wondrous courage; For whether in the Southdowns, or Siam, By the near Medway, or the far Menam, Your Wolf is most courageous--with your Lamb! With joy the Lamb he spied, then, growling, said, "Sirrah! how dare you thus disturb my drink?" The Lamb, in answer, meekly bowed its head-- "_I_ trouble not the water, Sir, I think, Particularly as I'm sure you'll see It flows--observe the drift--from you to me! You're welcome in the stream to slake your thirst, But, may I just observe, _I was here first!_" "Oh! you chop logic!" cried the angry brute. "I can chop, too:--you've done me other wrong. Young Mutton, best with _me_ not to dispute! You've given me already too much tongue. Are _you_ the home-born boss of all Siam, Of fleet Mekong, and many-creek'd Menam?" Mildly young woolly-face replied, "I _am_!" His optics orientally oblique, Rolling in manner sheepish, soft, and meek. "Oh, _are_ you?" snarled the Wolf. "_We_'ll see about it! 'Twixt Western Wolf and Oriental Lamb Equality is a preposterous flam: Do you--as Tonquin did--presume to doubt it? Fraternity? Well, I'm your elder brother; And Liberty--to you--means nought but bother. See, silly-face?" "Well, no," the Lamb replied, "Such reciprocity seems all one side. Not six o' one and half a dozen o' 'tother!" "Pooh!" snapped the Wolf. "Logic's clear _terra firma_ Is not for Lambkin, but for Wolf or Lion. If you such little games with me should try on, I'd treat you--well, as Bull did little Burmah.