"HOW CLEVER AND AMUSIN' YOUR FRIEND, MR. WHATSHISNAME
IS!--_TABBY_, ISN'T IT? SO GOOD-LOOKIN' AND GENTLEMANLIKE TOO! QUITE A
GODSEND ON A RAINY DAY LIKE THIS, WHEN ALL THE MEN ARE OUT SHOOTIN' OR
FISHIN', OR SOMETHING! IS HE MARRIED?"
_Noble Hostess_. "OH YES; BUT WHAT'S SO NICE ABOUT HIM, HE DOESN'T
MIND BEIN' ASKED WITHOUT HIS WIFE. THOSE SORT OF PERSONS SO OFTEN
EXPECT THEIR WIVES TO BE ASKED TOO, AND THAT'S SUCH A BORE, YOU KNOW!"
_Her Grace_. "YES; HOW SENSIBLE OF HIM! I MUST GET HIM TO COME TO US
AT BRASENOSE TOWERS!"]
* * * * *
THE CANADIAN "SEARCH-LIGHT."
(A SONG OF SINCERE SYMPATHY.)
AIR--"_THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP_."
In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp
The Search-Light sends its ray!
What is that hideous oozy tramp?
What creatures crawling 'midst jungle damp
Scuttle from light away?
Revealing radiance shine, oh shine,
Through black bayou and brake,
Where knotted parasites intertwine,
And through the tangles of poisonous vine
Glideth the spotted snake.
Where hardly a human foot would pass,
Or an honest heart would dare
The quaking mud of the foul morass,
With rank weed choked, and with clotted grass,
Fit for a reptile's lair.
They dread the light, do those dismal things,
Its gleam they dare not face.
Their snaky writhings, their bat-like wings,
Their quaking menace of fangs and stings
Make horror of the place.
All things should be so bright and fair
In a land so glad and free;
But the Search-Light layeth dark secrets bare,
And shows how loathsomeness builds a lair
In a land of Liberty.
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