HARDLY KIND.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 138, 28 January 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

HARDLY KIND.

The kindly old squire was giving i little treat to the village school children. After tea he stepped on to the platform and announced, with a beaming smile : ''Now. I am going to perform certain actions, and you must guess what proverb they represent. The boy or girl who succeeds first will receive n shilling.'' That did it. Instantly every eye was fixed on i-hn.

Fust of all the old gentleman ; ,y down on the platform. Then one min came forward and tried in vain to lift lrm. Two others came to his aid, and between them they lifted the squire who was rather portly. The actions were meant to express the motto, "Union is strength." When they had finished, the squire stopped forward and asked if any child had solved tiie puzzle. At once a grubby hand shot up and an eager voice squeaked : "Let sleeping dogs lie."

AND HE SAW! It was the kind of evening peculiarly conducive to lore-making. The mooji sa'led coldly majestic through tlie realms of blue above, and the multitudinous stare twinkled good-humonr-edly ;it the happy pair. The girl looked exquisite in a clinging gown of white voile, and yet the bashful young man fiat exactly eighteen inches away from his loved one, and frantieaMy remarked about the weather, business, and topes quite unsuitable to the op casion. Desperately the girl worked the conversation around to printing and publiJiin;:. "I cannot see the difference, May," ventured the masculine section of this episode, "between printing and publishing. "It is .simple," explained the sweet one in the clincing white stuff mentioned before. " For instance, you may print a kiss on mv cheek but you must not nithlish ; t! See?"