Suddenly the echoes were startled by a loud knocking on the door: rat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tat, tat. Who could it be? The old servitor shambled to undo the bolts. As he opened the door the wind rushed in, carrying great flakes of snow with it and an icy blast penetrated to every corner of the house. There followed a man muffled up to the eyes in a vast red scarf--or not so much red as pink, salmon colour--which he proceeded gradually to unwind, revealing at length the features of Mr. James Tod Brown, the senior partner of the firm of Brown, Brown & Brown, of Little Britain. Save for a curious nervousness of speech which caused him to repeat every remark several times, Mr. James Tod Brown was a typical lawyer, in the matter of ability far in advance of either of his partners, Brown or Brown. "Dear me," he said, "dear me, dear me! This is very sad, very sad--very sudden too, very sudden. And what--tut, tut, dear, dear, let me see--what was the cause of--ah! What was the cause--what was it that occasioned the--how did your master come to die? Yes, how did your master come to die?" * * * * * "What is it all about?" asks the reader. Well, it is not quite so meaningless as it may appear; there is method in the madness; for this is a passage from a story by one of the most popular English authors in America, to whom an American editor has offered twenty cents a word. At the present rate of exchange such commissions are not to be trifled with. * * * * * "Wanted, experienced Parlourmaid for a good home, where the household does not change."--_Local Paper._ Apparently "no washing." * * * * * [Illustration _Cheerful Sportsman._ "HULLO, PADRE! I SEE YOUR LATE COLLEAGUE HAS GONE ON AHEAD."] * * * * * OUR BOOKING-OFFICE. (_By Mr. Punch's Staff of Learned Clerks._)