Between the berried holly-bush The blackbird whistled to the thrush: "Which way did bright-eyed Bella go? Look, Speckle-breast, across the snow,-- Are those her dainty tracks I see, That wind beside the shrubbery?" The throstle pecked the berries still. "No need for looking, Yellowbill; Young Frank was there an hour ago, Half frozen, waiting in the snow; His callow beard was white with rime,-- 'Tchuck,--'tis a merry pairing-time!" "What would you?" twittered in the wren; "These are the reckless ways of men. I watched them bill and coo as though They thought the sign of spring was snow; If men but timed their loves as we, 'Twould save this inconsistency." "Nay, gossip," chirped the robin, "nay; I like their unreflective way. Besides, I heard enough to show Their love is proof against the snow:-- 'Why wait,' he said, 'why wait for May, When love can warm a winter's day?'" MENTAL PHOTOGRAPHS [Sidenote: _Mark Twain_] I have received from the publishers, New York, a neatly-printed page of questions, with blanks for answers, and am requested to fill those blanks. These questions are so arranged as to ferret out the most secret points of a man's nature without his ever noticing what the idea is until it is all done, and his "character" gone for ever. A number of these sheets are bound together and called a Mental Photograph Album. Nothing could induce me to fill those blanks but the asseveration of my pastor, that it will benefit my race by enabling young people to see what I am, and giving them an opportunity to become like somebody else. This overcomes my scruples. I have but little character, but what I have I am willing to part with for the public good. I do not boast of this character, further than that I built it up by myself, at odd hours, during the last thirty years, and without other educational aid than I was able to pick up in the ordinary schools and colleges. I have filled the blanks as follows: What is your favourite... Colour?--Anything but dun. Tree?--Any that bears forbidden fruit. Hour in the Day?--The leisure hour. Perfume?--Cent, per cent. Style of Beauty?--The Subscriber's. Names, Male and Female?--_M'aimez_ (Maimie) for a female, and Tacus and Marius for males. Painters?--Sign-painters. Poet?--Robert Browning, when he has a lucid interval. Poetess?--Timothy Titcomb. Prose Author?--Noah Webster, LL.D. Characters in Romance?--The Napoleon Family. In History?--King Herod. Book to take up for an hour?--Rothschild's pocket-book. If not yourself, who would you rather be?--The Wandering Jew, with a nice annuity. What is your idea of happiness?--Finding the buttons all on. Your idea of Misery?--Breaking an egg in your pocket. What is your _bête noire_?--(What is my which?) What do you most dread?--Exposure. What do you believe to be your Distinguishing Characteristic?--Hunger.