I gave him best at once, and then very gently suggested that his composition might not in its present unmitigated form be _quite_ suited to your tastes and requirements. I shall spare you the details of the ensuing controversy, but I want you to know that I have spared you much else, and in so doing have forfeited not only my father's affection but a projected advance on my next quarter-but-three's dress allowance. I hope you need no further proof of my devotion. Yours, etc., A DAUGHTER OF THE MANSE. P.S.--I was forgetting to say that you will find the bit about the ministers near the bottom of the third column of the tenth page of Thursday's _Scotsman_. Perhaps you can think of a funny treatment yourself. * * * * * SONGS OF SIMLA. III.--THE FURRIER. Akbar the furrier squats on the floor Sucking an Eastern pipe, Thumbing the lakhs that he's made of yore, Lakhs which creep to the long-dreamed crore In a ledger of Western type. And all around him the wild beasts sway, Cured of their mortal ills-- Flying squirrels from Sikkim way, Silver foxes that used to play Up on the Kashmir hills. On the shelf of a cupboard a polecat lies Laughing between his paws, And there's more than a hint of amused surprise In the gape of the lynx, in the marten's eyes, In the poise of the grey wolf's claws. And, should you enter old Akbar's lair And hear what he wants for his skins, You will know why the little red squirrels stare, Why the Bengal tiger gasps for air And the gaunt snow-leopard grins. J.M.S. * * * * * The Telephone Girl's motto: _Nulla linea sine die_--"Number engaged; ring again and again, please." * * * * * ALAS! POOR PANTHER. I went to the Derby fully intending to back the favourite--The Panther. But the cross-currents immediately set in--as they always do. I began by making the mistake of reading the forecasts of all the experts--the gallant Captains and Majors, the Men on the Course, the Men on the Heath, the Men on the Spot--all of whom, although they mostly favoured The Panther, had serious views as to dangerous rivals, supported by what looked like uncontrovertible arguments. I also had an early evening paper with a summary of forecasts, none of which (as it was to turn out) mentioned the winner at all. I was even so foolish as to glance at some of the advertisements of the wizards who are so ready to put the benefit of their knowledge at the service of the public and make fortunes for others rather (apparently) than for themselves, all of whom hinted at some mysterious long-priced outsider whose miraculous qualities of speed were a secret. But of course I was too late to profit by these; they merely unsettled me.