The past year marks an epoch in the history of games. We have retired from football and are not the cricketer we were; but, on the other hand, we have made immense strides in croquet. We improve slowly at billiards. In November we potted the red rather neatly, and everybody said, "There's no getting away from that--he _must_ have meant it." As a matter of fact ... but it would spoil it to explain. In the latter part of the year we could have shown you a trick or two at tennis. That is all, except that I can no longer jump the ancestral herbaceous border, as the gardener keeps on discovering. HYDROSTATICS Archimedes' Principle--that if a heavy body gets into a cold bath quickly an equal amount of water gets out on to the mat quickly--was demonstrated daily, to the complete dissatisfaction of the man on the floor below, who, however, made a still more important discovery in this interesting branch of dynamics--viz. that water does not find its own level, but prefers something about ten feet lower down. INDIGO Indigo has maintained its _status quo_ throughout the year. There have been occasions during this time when we had almost decided to be an Indigo planter in Assam rather than stick it in this beastly country. On each occasion the weather cleared just before we had packed the sandwiches. MUSIC Space and time alike fail us to tell of our notable triumphs upon the pianola in the year that has just elapsed. We have played the Sonata Appassionata and "Shuffling Jasper" with equal _verve_ and _chiaroscuro_. The fruitness and nutty flavour of our rendering of Remorse--Valse Tzigane, No. 1,192,999, kindly return by the end of the month--will never be forgotten. In July one of the black notes stuck down and refused to budge for some time; but we got it up at last with a potted-meat opener. I say, I don't think much of Liszt. He has pace and staying power and is a good strider; quite a useful man over timber he might be; but he is a little lacking in--what shall I say, _Adagio con molto expressione ma non troppo_, if you know what I mean. PETS Walter, the white mouse, perished in May. The doctor said it was too much exercise on an empty--well, he put it rather crudely. You know what doctors are. And you know how white mice _will_ exercise. The tailor said Walter was too small to make up into a white waistcoat, even an evening one, and that he would be hopeless as a tie. I advertised for a white mole, but they seem to be rare. Altogether it was a sad year for pets. THOUGHT Perhaps the past year was, above all, a year for thought. To the pursuit of thought we devoted many days in many positions. Some people would find it impossible to think properly immediately after breakfast but we proved that, given a sufficiently comfortable chair, the impossible could be achieved, that one could be as thoughtfully busy in the morning as in the afternoon. XYLONITE We did not do any of this. YCLEPT