"It's been a great season for me," said M. "I admit to being nervous on the second day of the last great match, but all's well now. What a game that was! And it's not only of Middlesex that I'm proud; if you glance at the batting averages you will notice MEAD not a great way removed from the top; and MAKEPEACE not far below him, and I hold MURRELL in special esteem." "Yes," said R, "and if you continue to look you will find RHODES at the head of the bowling, and RUSHBY and RICHMOND in honourable places, and the steady RUSSELL with over two thousand runs to his name. There are also two brothers named RELF. Good heavens, the H's aren't everything!" "He doesn't claim, I hope," B struck in, "that BROWN begins with H, or BOWLEY, or Bat or Ball or Bails?" "Nor," said S, "that SANDHAM and SUTCLIFFE and STEVENS and SEYMOUR and the gallant little STRUDWICK (who, like all wicket-keepers, is so liable to be overlooked) never existed? Not to mention my latest recruit, Mr. SKEET? Some letters can be too haughty and--" "Grasping," said G. "But all of you must be careful of me. I carry big GUNNS." [Illustration: THE HAPPY WARRIOR. WITH MR. PUNCH'S COMPLIMENTS TO MR. "PLUM" WARNER.] "Although I'm not too prominent," said F, "I've got a very dangerous bowler and hitter and captain in FENDER, to say nothing of two FREEMEN and a 'FAIRY.' And during the season C.B. FRY bobbed up once to some purpose." I asked one or two of the letters to explain their silence. "Well," said Z, "cricket has never interested me. But then my range is very narrow." "And mine's even narrower," sighed X. "If it weren't for QUAIFE," said Q, "I should be in despair and play nothing but a quiet game of quoits now and again." "H may have that long string," said W, "but he breaks down badly here and there. Where's his six-foot-six left-handed bowler and bat? He hasn't got one. I have, though, in WOOLLEY. And where's his master of the game, practical and theoretical, in a harlequin cap? The wisest captain any county ever had and the most enthusiastic and stimulating? In short, where is H's P.F. WARNER, whom we're all so sorry to lose, but who had such a glorious farewell performance? Where? Ha!" "I claim a share in the Middlesex captain," said P proudly. "For is he not a Plum? I hate to see him go, but I shall not be fruitless; look how PEACH is coming along." "And who owns the All-English Captain, I should like to know?" said the deep voice of D. "Not to mention a DENTON and a DURSTON and a DOLPHIN and a DIPPER. It is something to own a DEAN; it is more to possess a DUCAT." "Isn't life going to be very dull for all of you till next May?" I asked. "Oh, no," said A, who hitherto had not spoken. "We're going to follow the English team's doings in Australia. And won't it be A1 when they bring back the Ashes?" "Absolutely," I agreed. E.V.L. * * * * * ANOTHER IRISH PROBLEM.