Renee (half-an-hour later).  I still love you.

Merital (with some truth).  What a love yours is!

Enter Daniel, Julien and Georgette Merital.

Daniel.  Father, we have a confession to make.  For some time we doubted your innocence.  Your face—­well, you’d have doubted it yourself if you’d seen it.

Merital (taking his hand affectionately).  Ah!  Daniel, I see I must tell you the story of my life. (Excitement among the audience.) And you too, Julien. (Panic.) Yes, and—­little Georgette!

SAFETY CURTAIN.

A. A. M.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  THE EARTHLY PARADISE.

Coster.  “SEE THAT, LIZ?  THERE’S A COUNTRY FOR YOU!”]

* * * * *

[Illustration:  PEACEFUL PERSUASION.

(JONES IS NOT NATURALLY A GENEROUS MAN.)]

* * * * *

THE ROMANCE OF A BATTLESHIP.

(From the Navy League Annual of 1916.)

I have just returned (writes a Naval correspondent) from an interesting visit to the condemned battleship, H.M.S.  Indefensible, which is now anchored off Brightlingsea, in the charge of retired petty-officer Herbert Tompkins and his wife.

The history of H.M.S.  Indefensible, as gathered from the lips of her present curator, is so romantic as to be worthy of permanent record.  In reply to my first question, “Whom did she belong to first of all?” Mr. Tompkins said, “Well, she was ordered first of all by the Argentine Republic, but, owing to a change of Government, they sold her to the Italians.  I remember the launch at Barrow quite well,” he said.  “It was a mighty fine show, with the Italian Ambassador and his wife—­the Magnifico Pomposo, they called her, I think it was—­and there was speechifying and hurraying and enough champagne drunk to float her.  That was just three years ago:  a super-Dreadnought, they called her.”

“Then how did the British Government get her?”

“Lor bless you, Sir, that didn’t come for a long time yet.  Ye see, Italy shortly afterwards made an alliance with Denmark, and, wishing to do the Danes a good turn, she arranged to sell them the Magnifico Pomposo at cost price—­about three millions I think it was.  But immediately afterwards the Russo-Chinese war broke out, and the Chinese offered the Danes four millions for the Dannebrog, as they had called her, so by the time the engines were put into her she had been rechristened the Hoang-Ho.  But the war never came off:  you remember that Mr. ROOSEVELT settled it by fighting a single combat with the Russian champion after he had been appointed President of China; so the Chinese leased the Hoang-Ho to the King of SIAM for four years at a million a year.”