bridle.  Then he would run up, and pull up her head, and start her again, and she would bolt off with a flirt of her head, and never be content till I was safely on the grass.  The moment that was effected she took to grazing again, and I believe enjoyed the whole performance as much as George, and certainly far more than I did.  We always brought her a carrot, or bit of sugar, in our pockets, and she was much more like a great good-tempered dog with us than a pony.

Memoir of a Brother.  T. HUGHES.

* * * * *

THE CHAMELEON.

       Oft has it been my lot to mark
       A proud, conceited, talking spark,
       With eyes that hardly served at most
       To guard their master ’gainst a post: 
       Yet round the world the blade has been
       To see whatever can be seen. 
       Returning from his finished tour,
       Grown ten times perter than before. 
       Whatever word you chance to drop,
       The travelled fool your mouth will stop: 
       “Sir, if my judgment you’ll allow—­
       I’ve seen—­and sure I ought to know.” 
       So begs you’d pay a due submission
       And acquiesce in his decision. 
       Two travellers of such a cast,
       As o’er Arabia’s wilds they passed,
       And on their way in friendly chat,
       Now talked of this, and now of that: 
       Discoursed a while, ’mongst other matter,
       Of the chameleon’s form and nature. 
       “A stranger animal,” cries one,
       “Sure never lived beneath the sun;
       A lizard’s body, lean and long,
       A fish’s head, a serpent’s tongue,
       Its foot with triple claw disjoined;
       And what a length of tail behind! 
       How slow its pace!  And then its hue—­
       Who ever saw so fine a blue?”—­
       “Hold there,” the other quick replies,
       “’Tis green; I saw it with these eyes
       As late with open mouth it lay,
       And warmed it in the sunny ray;
       Stretched at its ease the beast I viewed,
       And saw it eat the air for food.” 
       “I’ve seen it, sir, as well as you,
       And must again affirm it blue: 
       At leisure I the beast surveyed
       Extended in the cooling shade.” 
       “’Tis green, ’tis green, sir, I assure you.” 
       “Green!” cried the other in a fury: 
       “Why, do you think I’ve lost my eyes?”
       “’Twere no great loss,” the friend replies,
       “For if they always serve you thus,
       You’ll find them of but little use.” 
       So high at last the contest rose,
       From words they almost came to blows,
       When luckily came by a third: 
       To him the question they referred,
       And begged he’d tell them if he knew,
       Whether the thing was green or blue? 
       “Sirs,” cries the umpire, “cease your pother,