comes no reply, But straight o'er the sands, as of old, staring forth to the weird desert sky, Unmoved, unresponsive, indifferent, gazes that stony face still, Incarnation of calm most colossal, cold patience, immovable will, Looking far beyond time, far above human hope, mere midge-fret of the day, Into--what? There's no mortal who knows, and the Sphinx, if it know, doth not say. 'Tis silent--with silence that means not consent to the youth's wild appeal; Still, still the set face which is stone gazes forth on a sky which is steel! * * * * * THE ONE TOPIC. _First Man_ (_impressively_). I was in bed for a week. _Second Man_ (_indifferently_). I was in bed for a fortnight. _First Man_ (_boastfully_). Ah, but I had most severe pains in my back and head. _Second Man_ (_contemptuously_). Very likely. I had most severe pains all over me. _First Man_ (_exultingly_). Well, anyhow, my temperature was 103-1/2°. _Second Man_ (_crushingly_). Oh, that's nothing! Mine was 107°. [_Exit in opposite directions._ * * * * * THE "HAPPY DESPATCH" FOR THE SWAZIES.--The Convention of 1894, just signed, between Sir H. LOCH and President (D)"OOM" KRUGER. * * * * * [Illustration: SILENT! LITTLE KHEDIVE. "TELL ME, GREAT SPHINX--IS EGYPT FOR THE EGYPTIANS?"] * * * * * [Illustration: "HI, BILLY! ARE YER MOVIN'?"] * * * * * BAIL UP! A Correspondent, who has been reading GRAY'S "Elegy," says there is a reference to the England _v._ Australia match in it. He quotes the line-- "How jocund did they drive their team afield!" as proving his point. The allusion to "drives," "teams," and "fielding," he remarks, can hardly be misunderstood. And if they could, the following line settles the matter:-- "How bow'd the wood beneath their sturdy stroke!" _Didn't_ the wood bow and bend when BROWN was in, he asks? Wasn't WARD'S on-drive for five a sturdy stroke? We must refer him to Mr. STODDART for a reply. * * * * * PSALTER AND SALTA.--Aided by the careful arrangement of "contents" (and with regard to "Mr. G.'s" latest publication there are no "non-contents") the reader can easily find any passage in this "Psalter." At this moment there is another "Salta" to which the attention of not a few is directed, and the non-contents or anti-Jabezites know that it is very difficult to get at _him_, or to find a passage out of that Salta for J. B. * * * * * If ever there were a clergyman's name, and title, suggestive of the Militantest of the Church Militant, it is "Canon GORE." * * * * * OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.