G. E. Farrow

“ The little thin fish seemed to be a long while catching them up, and, while they were waiting, Marjorie espied a curious figure poking about among the seaweed a short distance away from them.
“I wonder what it is!” she cried, and the children dismounted from the Dolphins, and, tying them by the reins to some coral stumps, so that they could not swim away, they half walked and half swam over to where Marjorie had first noticed the creature, whatever it was.
“Why, it’s a man!” cried Dick, as they drew nearer, and could distinguish him more clearly. ”

“ I then swallowed my stone, and immediately became almost as tiny as my small cousin, having, for my part, wished to be reduced to the height of an inch and a half, thinking that some sort of distinction ought to be preserved in our relative sizes.
"There!" exclaimed Lionel in a vexed voice, when I had joined him. "It's no use after all! How on earth are we going to get on board?"
"Ah!" cried Shin Shira, laughing good-humouredly and now looking, to us, like a good-natured giant, towering as he did high above our heads. ”

“ I’ve Oded before,” said One-and-Nine, giggling foolishly.
“What shall you say?” inquired Boy.
“Well, let me see,” said One-and-Nine. “In Oding a lady you have to think of what you most admire in her, and take that as your subject. The last time I Oded, you know, it was about Miss Dolly-girl’s eyes. It began thusly:
“‘The Rose is red, the Violet’s blue,
But neither have such eyes as you.
Yours are the kind I most admire;
They shut and open with a wire.’
Miss Dolly-girl told me she was much flatterated by the complimentation.” ”

“ Photographs of various articles in the drawing-room, which had no connection whatever with the Wallypug, were reproduced with the most extraordinary and absolutely untrue stories attached to them. Dick and Mrs. Mehetable Murchison appeared as “The Wallypug’s favourite cat and dog,” while pathetic stories were told of how the dog had on several occasions saved his royal master from an untimely and watery grave, while the cat had prevented him from being burned to death while reading in bed by gently scratching his nose when he had fallen asleep, and the candle had set fire to the bed curtains. ”

“ Auntie’s blue eyes sparkled.
“In earnest, Olive?” she said. “Of course! Why shouldn’t I be in earnest? But come, quick, we must get our things together. Your uncle must have got a carriage.”
“Yes,” said he, “I have. Not an ox-cart, Rex. I’m sorry for your sake, but for no one else’s; for I don’t think there would be much left of us by the end of the journey if we were to be jogged along the forest roads in an ox-cart. No! I have got quite a respectable vehicle; but we must stop an hour or two on the way, to rest the horses and give them a feed, otherwise we could not get through to-night.” ”

“ There's no fairy displays
In these up-to-date days,
Her powers in such crude and old-fashioned ways—
No! I bring you An Imagination.
"But exercise It, and you quickly will find
From your pathway all troubles are banished!"
She waved a small wand,
With a look sad yet fond,
Then, into the far and the distant "beyond"
Sharpe's good Grandmother suddenly vanished.
The spell she had cast very quickly began
In his brain to engender a vision. ”

“ Why is a robin like a waterbut?”
“First of all,” said the Archæopteryx, anxiously, “what is a robin, and who is a waterbut?”
“Oh, a robin,” explained Marjorie, “is a dear little bird with a red breast that comes in the winter——”
“Stop! stop!” said the Palæotherium, “one thing at a time. What is a bird?”
“Oh, I say! You must know what a bird is,” expostulated Dick.
“I don’t,” said the Palæotherium, stubbornly.
“Why—why—the Dodo is a bird,” explained Dick.
“Yes, but nothing like a robin, Dick, dear,” added Marjorie; “a robin is such a sweet, pretty little thing——”
“Well, I never!” ”

“ Hi!" I heard voices shouting, and looking up to the cliffs I saw some people waving frantically. "Come up quickly, or you'll be cut off," they shouted.
And I hurried along the sands, only just in time, for I had been so interested in Shin Shira's story that I had not noticed how the tide had been creeping up. I shall have a good look at that jewel in Shin Shira's turban next time I see him—and as for "the Bellows," I hardly know which explanation to accept, Shin Shira's or that of the guide. ”

“ I stared and wondered, till, out of the confusion, there gradually grew shapes which bore some resemblance to human beings, and, presently, I could recognize quite distinctly, first a young man in knee breeches, smiling in a particularly self-satisfied way, and escorting a large fish, who was walking upright, with slippers on his tail, and who wore a waistcoat and necktie. Then an amiable-looking old gentleman, carrying a wand, who was followed by a curious little person, wearing a crown and carrying an orb and sceptre. ”

“ I am quite sure that an invisible King would be a great trial to my poor subjects, and I feel more and more shadowy every hour. You must take the little Prince’—meaning this little lamb, gentlemen—‘You must take the little Prince to Zum and tell the Lord High Adjudicator all about it, and give him this signet-ring, which he will recognise as having belonged to me, and see that the little Prince is made King, because he is the lawful successor to my father’s throne.-’ Those were his very words, gentlemen, and soon after his head disappeared entirely, so that he was unable to speak. ”