…in a great state of excitement. ‘Lil,’ he said, ‘ here’s news! The very thing we have been longing for has come to pass, and it is the softest job imaginable. What do you think? This afternoon, as I was taking forty winks in my wicker chair before the fire, there came a timid knock at the door, and in walked a lady!’”A lady, Jim!’ I exclaimed.” Not a real lady? ‘”She was, though,’ Jim went on, ‘ a real lady bred and born. I could tell that the moment she opened her mouth — though I guessed as much from her dress, which was just moderate, nothing more. ” I believe, she said, with a nervous little” smile, “I’m speaking to Mr. James Bailey? “” That’s right enough, ma’am,” I replied, “I’m Jim Bailey and no one else.”” ‘ “Well, Mr. Bailey,” she said in slow, measured tones, as…

…prospect of being now able to quench my thirst, I hastened to the pool, and, kneeling down, dipped my mouth in it. But alas! Try how I would, I couldn’t drink the water — every time I touched it with my lips it slipped away and I gulped at nothing. With a tin dipper, that I found lying close beside me, I tried to ladle the water out of the pool, but all to no purpose — ^the water was in the pool, and in the pool it meant to stay. At last, worn out with trying to coax the water into my mouth, and perceiving some luscious-looking plums growing on a tree nearby, I resolved to slake my thirst with them instead. But the moment I touched a plum it changed into a reel of cotton. One plum after another I touched, but there was no exception to the…

…little present. Are you fond of roast mutton?””Yes, ma’am,’ I replied, feeling very hungry all of a sudden, for the smell of all those good things I have told you about, sir, really made my mouth water.”And tripe? She went on”.”Again I answered, ‘ Yes”.”Then that is all right,’ she said, with a sigh of relief.” My husband and I ordered what we fancied you would most appreciate — a good, homely fare and plenty of it — so don’t be afraid to have a second helping. Now, Willie dear, let us begin”.”Well, sir, we all sat down. It was by far the” queerest meal I have ever had, and I cannot say I enjoyed it, for the meat was tough and the vegetables half raw. But there was no help for it.When I had got one plateful down and was congratulating myself that I could now give my jaws…

Being honoured and respected.

…There are unquestionably certain people who, in their dreams, witness events that are actually taking place at the time.A lady I knew, Mrs. P., who lived in Gloucester Place, W., dreamed one night she was in a big seaport town, where the streets were all numbered and laid out in blocks according to the American system, and where in one part of the city the tramlines descended over a series of plateaux. The houses were very lofty, and in one street a single hotel occupied an entire block. Shortly after her arrival, the entire town shook and heaved under the influence of a stupendous earthquake; houses collapsed like packs of cards, and, amidst the most appalling shrieks and groans, the whole city burst into a lurid sheet of fire. Everywhere was the wildest confusion and despair. People of all nationalities, from fair-skinned Europeans and yellow-visage Chinese — of which…