Well, more than thirty years have passed.... But all the same on Thursday last My heart was beating just as fast Within that Hall of Wonder; My bliss was every bit as great As what it was in '88-- Impossible to look sedate Or keep my feelings under. The gods of old still gazed upon The scene where, thirty years agone, The lines of Bill and me and John Were cast in pleasant places; And "Friends," I murmured, "what's the odds If you are rather battered gods? This is no time for Ichabods And _eheu_--er--_fugaces_." Ah, no; I did not mourn the years' Fell work upon those poor old-dears, Nor PITT nor Venus drew my tears And set me slowly sobbing; I hailed them with a happy laugh And slapped old Samson on the calf, And asked a member of the staff For "Officers Demobbing." That evening, being then dispersed, I swear (as I had sworn it first When three of us went on the burst With Aunt, or Great-Aunt, Alice), "Although one finds, as man or boy, A thousand pleasures to enjoy, For happiness without alloy Give me the Crystal Palace!" A.A.M. * * * * * COAL-DUST. "Had a good day?" said Frederic cheerily, stamping the snow off his boots as I met him at the front-door. "That depends," I said, "on what you call a good day." "You haven't been dull?" said Frederic. "Oh, no," I said, indicating the comforting blaze as I pushed Frederic's chair to the fire; "behold the result of my day's labours in your behalf. Your hot bath and hot breakfast, dear, were just camouflage to keep from you, the centre of gravity, our desperate straits. When I went to give Cook her orders this morning I found her as black as a sweep and in a mood to correspond. She pointed to a few lumps of coal in the kitchen scuttle and said, 'I've sifted all that dust in the cellar, Ma'am, and these are the only lumps I could find. There's only enough to cook one more dinner.'" "My dear girl," said Frederic, "why wait till there is no coal before ordering more?" "Hear me," I cried. "A fortnight ago I ordered some. The man asked, 'Have you _any_ coal?' I said I had a little. He said, 'You are lucky to have _any_. Dozens of people have no coal at all. I can promise nothing.' "A week ago I went again. 'Have you _any_ coal?' he asked. 'Still a very little,' I said faintly. 'Hundreds of people,' he said, 'have no coal at all, I can promise you _nothing_.'