"Mr. Seddon," said the Professor, "you are strangely forgetful of the admonition to speak reverently when you refer to a depilous cranium. Now, here you are punning with the most unbecoming levity on a nude noddle. You had better beware! Although there are no she-bears in this vicinity to perform their painful duty, you may not escape with impunity." "Peccavi," said Tom. "Absolution is granted;" said the Professor. "Toney, proceed with the reading." Toney resumed: "A celebrated Irish barrister attributed his success in the profession to the fact that he started without property of any sort save only a pair of hair-trigger pistols. M. T. Pate carried no carnal weapons. He had neither hair-trigger pistols nor much hair on his head; but he had a little learning, which is said to be a dangerous thing. When he was admitted to practice, the contents of the little brown jug had been expended; and he started in his profession with a vigorous constitution and a small volume of legal lore, entitled 'Every Man his own Lawyer.' "The members of the legal fraternity are indebted to M. T. Pate for an important discovery immediately subsequent to his admission to the bar. We are told-- There is a language in each flower That opens to the eye; A voiceless but a magic power Doth in earth's blossoms lie, and we find that the poet selects as an appropriate symbol of his delightful occupation 'the dew-sweet eglantine.' The soldier chooses The deathless laurel as the victor's due. The young maiden selects the rosebud, and the weeping widow the cypress. The lover's flower is the myrtle; the player's, the hyacinth; the pugilist's, the fennel. But there never was a symbol for the legal profession until the sagacity of M. T. Pate discovered it in the _arbutus unedo_, or strawberry, which, upon a careful perusal of Flora's lexicon, he found to be emblematic of perseverance. And as the gladiators of ancient Rome were accustomed to mingle large quantities of fennel with their food, because it tended to give them strength and courage, so did this industrious lawyer never fail, when an opportunity offered, to devour a great abundance of strawberries; being fully persuaded that the fruit imparted a wonderful degree of patience and perseverance. In the spring strawberries and cream were consumed by him in immense quantities; and at other seasons of the year the preserved fruit was never absent from his table." "Mr. Seddon," said the Professor, "pay attention to that. You are a young lawyer, and I would advise you to have the example of M. T. Pate ever in contemplation." "I most certainly will," said Seddon. "Never turn your back on a bowl of strawberries and cream," said the Professor. "Never!" exclaimed Seddon,--"never!"