COMEDY IN COURTSHIP. THE CHRONICLES OF QUACKLAND.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 230, 7 February 1885, Page 8

COMEDY IN COURTSHIP.

THE CHRONICLES OF QUACKLAND.

Watch each other through the room, Hatethe gaslight, love the gloom, Give the bonbon men a boom : ■ -■-■•• Just engaged. Speak , of ".Angels without wings," Wiitch thelistyle of weeding rings, , : Do a thousand iooiish Uiings. Just engaged. • : •' Fiiwns around her brother Mike, Bringsher "Dreams" by Marvel Ike — He's engaged. Leaves off smoke' and beer from date, i' •' Goes to churchjto sit with Kate, '■ Puts a half-crown in the plate '•. He's 1 engaged. .!■•■•. :i-'\ ■ ■■:'''■'! '<•••■ .'(•■■■ J' i'iifi'" "^ Hasten on her, frjenqs toucan, . Blithe and gay ;i;eno l unc«fß,all Schemes for keeping ''Old Maid's Hall :" iv-,1, ■„. ;,,. .■...£„, She's engaged. - . ; • : ■ Chooses bridesmaid's ten^ or. eight, them with- ail honour great— : " "Buying gowns \ki deck ncr fete : : ' -f/:^ ■.-';;'";.%;;•;. She V^ngaeed'.;;. -;_ ■- ■ •; Go to plays and opera, ■ J '• i; ' : Bttig l th-<i <; "go'bblS"'and-the "'baa;" •■ Have a fight about," Bochat :" <\'/i ■</'-'!- Disengaged.' .- - { ... ■■:..:■'■■ Maiden weeps the long night through; ' Lov,e.r)sjbeautifull ; y blue, % irr j,jLife>,a tragedy to j: two : . . -.J'-'L'~. ..'■'. !_-'..-. S.o_t. engaged. the cliasm 'tween the , twain, s- : "Morning — lia9 it come in vnin ? - „, fju >.<.lx-B ufc M" toiise. xleepaiT' again 9 „ ... . , fiaslihtt^i^ia-f&^^'i. ■ ■■ ■■■:-■■' Hark ! e a r nngmg at the door, J, s «°X'nW& %SiM?" MitfrXifcWto MWe ?'*i :f '

1. The Sori,p*t\Byl Jiecmnetli m PlMican and a I Siniier—i%'' : S[^'BuWletfp a;TpmJM IJol Jo Dionysus ! 7. The Feh&'bf BVicUhs^-S^How the Son of B/jl Performed the ■ Bvttle Trick— A. Byl Maketh cthe'A G.enturiojvj> J%7Z(&«M— 5 - T lie Apothecaru Discgpereth Death in.flic Pot—§. ' The Centurion Forth* to' Buttle f -^. The Spilling of me' Fire-water — 8. The Soil of Byl Fleeth'. ■';;;'- 1. .Now when they had j^departed thespn of Byl rose up and said, i: " I will make myself an habitation'^ aiiioiigOthis people/fand ' become a publican ahdjpera'dveritute alsoiajsiriner. Oh, that I had in. the ,wiWerness v .a.- lodging place for wayfaring men.' / 2. And'he pitched : his tent'-'among' them witK' the vessel 1 of fire-wa f ter under the shelter thereof'/ and -guarded his treasure jealously, lest some of the ! spoilers' of the Roamies or the ' Racketyajsses should reniPve the spile ' or spigbt and ['spile, or spill, the' bontentsj and bear away tpo much w,et' cargo. . ' •',.'.'"• „ ■ 3. For he , said, "X will, lay up unto myself treasures on earth, where rust arid lrtoth do not corrupt, nor thieves break through and. steal." 4. And ..he built :himself an house hard by they sea . shore, and the length, and breadth thereof was six cubits and ix span, and behold it ' standetli eveu unto this day as a memorial, and a temple- of Bacchus, and a thing of beauty and a joy for ever; albeit that certain players who came to that place in after times, as 'the white crane that 1 flyeth. adorned the walL thereof with the strange and wondrous devices of their calling, '."'. 5. And when he had fashioned and formed the house, he consecrated it with due rites and ceremonies unto Dionysus, whom the Greeks and the Romans call Bacchus, and he hung out a sign and a token unto the Roamies' and the Packeyasses^ saying, " Let us eat and drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die." • /•••■;■ ..•" .■ ■■ ' 6. And they came in great numbers, for "wheresoever the cask of ruin is , there will the thirsty gather." ' ... 7. They made, a festival unto Bacchus and the Lenae, ' Maenades, Thyiades, Mimallones (the children of Maloney), the' Clodones and the Bassarides flocked, thither, arid the son of Byl waxed rich and 1 mighty, and possessed shekels of silver and measures of flax and timber and many baked heads of the Roamies. and. herds, of , the unclean animal and other goodly things; and _he took counsel with divers elders to establish a temple of money-changers. 8. But it came to pass that on a certain day he perceived that the fire-water was diminished, so that little thqreof remained, and his "heart was. sorely grieved. '. 9. So he took of the fragrant "weed of Virginia a certain . part, , of tho blue igtone another part, and of certain other things, . and mingled them with , the firewater, and added thereto many measures of , fresh water from a fountain hard by. 10. And he called unto the .people again,, saying, "Lo 1 I have replenished my store as a bottle that is inexhaustible, after the manner of a wizard, therefore I pray thee drink, pretty creatures drink." 11. And they drank. 12. But behold there was in Rarakora at that time a certain centurion who had soldiers in authority under him, so that he might say to one go, and he goeth, and to another come and he cometh. 13. But the centurion and a physician and apothecary that were with him awoke on a certain morning with a headache, for they had tarried long at the mess, and had drunk many goodly measures of the firewater of the son of Byl, and they were billious. 14. Then the apothecary was ininded to: inquire diligently into the cause of this strange l thing, and he sent one of the soldiers unto the son of ' Byl to bring some of the firewater in a bottle. f 15. And when the^firewate'r was brought unto him, the centurion lifted up his voice and said— "Brother, I am athirst, and not fit, and out of sorts, and suffering a recovery. Give unto me, therefore, a ' pick-me-up,' a reviver, and a tonic, and I will bless thee exceedingly."- • : . . 16. And the apothecary poured out a quantity of the firewater in a glass, and; shook it, and beheld 'it in the light of the sun, and he i>erceived that-it was not good. 1 7 . Then ne exclaimed with a loud voice— : " There is death in the; pot !". . , . ■■' : 18. Whereat . the . centurion, was r greatly ; moved, insomuch that he started up, buckled! on' his pig-sticker/ and* arrayed himself in! war-paint, and; said ,unto, the guard with-; ou t "Bring me here the. head rpf the son of [ Byl in a charger." ■':.;>: . 49. But the apothecary, being, a ,man,.of ■, peace, counselled him; that ;he should do ; nothing' rashly! ';:.*' ,-' . :,— •:' ■ VVf"; , . 20: So -the centurion. calleth.untp him a ; company ,of' ; Soldiers, arid goeth forth beyond Waitangito Rarakora iiV b0at5,;,..';, ,,;;.' , ;.' -21. And the son of-JByl smelleth the battle; afar off, the thunder of the captain, and.the; shouting, and he ! said, " Oh, that I had 'the j w j^s of a db;y i e I ;that;l ; might ; fly away. ! " ; ; 22.' But the centurion and . his 'soldiers; came to the temple of Bacchus, andtheiwords^ of his mouth w.ere smoptherjthaii butter, but., war was hi his heart, t : 23., And,h<i .saith fi unt6; the -spn ; pf Byl, ( • u .\Vhat art ithoa giving Us,r thfit we.^eel to and ; fro "and 1 s^gef J like a drunken man ? Lo, I', have drunk of thy 'fire-water; but at the last? it bit<?th.>iik^ ft f i3e.roe# aiiaVtihget^lifce^u |

mine eye 4 seeth thee:"* •""*" tunon, " Gird fc y.p, < ihy,lic!ms,.f > Qr ever the cork bung be loosed," '"wooden stave be bjsoke.ii>; thyrfirer^v^ter^^vhiiQ^is a.n a,b,pmina-tion,-shftU<,be',uspUt3sJwaie^'.tihjwfß^pU^ the ground and cannot ibej-gathered up." 26. And the son-ot -Byl said, meekly, "Ye are'lili"e T; pedplev ah'djwigdoni shall <die.'with-ye.' T 2.7. So the ce^ttirio^ called- unto him two , triisty men,; and^th'ey rblle^q^ffie'barr^i that> contained the fire-water, and brake, in the head thereof wish. ; an, axe, so that the liquor gushed out. on, the ground. ,'!,,, .- ..,, * 28. 'AJ^eit ..^.e,. soidiers, jwho'beh'eld itiwere solely grieved,, and .communed witlieadii other thusly, ".Ayhy.'.doth lie waste. / i;his i s,\veetness pn the desert air V'" 1 •'■'- Xb.d^'lXi'j ' ;i 29. But the sori of ■ Byllifttediup his voice andAVept, for the;iro m entered ; Ms(soul.' -•. 30; ! And J the' ! centurib'n" com'maiided=-him, saying, 'jATise'v'get'the hence,' lesii'some evil befall s the.e. Enter into thine own canoe and paddled" :;?;;: ■ . ■ .. „ . ci.vl? 31.:Andi.he paddled; yea, he.di4TflyJ]ip"on the wings of the wind, -unto .a i place called Weissnichtwp, otherwise called Kehnaquhair, and the place thereof ;knew him.no more for a space. . . . ;. ; , ;) ■■, . - , (To he continued.) . . . ... _.. ,..