* * * * *

THE KEY TO A LOCK.

["A lock of ——­’s hair, set in a small gold-rimmed case, and said to
be an ancient family possession, was knocked down for forty pounds.”]

Take yonder lock of tangled hair,
A silver seamed with sable,
Dim harbinger from dreamland fair
Of reverie and fable;

  Yes, grandson mine, the treasure take,
    A trinket loved, if little,
  And wear it, darling, for my sake,
    In yonder locket brittle;

  Small, as my banker’s balance, small
    And faint—­a touching token;
  My luck, the lock, the locket, all
    Seem, child, a trifle broken.

  Investments, boy, are looking glum;
    They flit and fade; in fine a
  Not inconsiderable sum
    Has gone to—­Argentina.

  Nay, chide me not; one day, refilled
    By these, may shine your pocket,
  And Fortune’s resurrection gild
    The lock within the locket.

  Because, you see, when strong and sage
    You grow, and all the serried
  Lights of the great Victorian age
    With me are quenched and buried;

  When other men in other days
    Walk paramount—­then shall you
  Submit the thing to such as praise
    The Past, its relics value.

  The curl was worn, you’ll tell your friends,
    By TENNYSON or BROWNING
  (The detail of the name depends
    On who is worth renowning).

  You’ll vaunt that one who knew the grand
    Victorian Stars, and rather
  Deserved himself to join the band
    (In fact your father’s father),

  Who, past expression, loved whate’er
    The market cottons then to,
  Committed to your childish care
    This genuine memento.

  You’ll catalogue it, as befalls
    Your choice, my little gran’son;
  You’ll bear it to the deathless halls
    Of CHRISTIE, WOODS, AND MANSON.

  So, when the fateful hammer sounds,
    And you have cashed in rhino
  A cheque for, haply, forty pounds,
    You’ll bless your grandsire, I know;

  Who, while his fortunes failed, and much
    Was life’s horizon o’ercast,
  Created souvenirs with such
    A keen, commercial forecast.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  ALL-ROUND POLITICIANS—­SIR WILLIAM VARIETY HARCOURT.]

* * * * *

BACCHUS OUTWITTED; OR, THE TRIUMPH OF SOBRIETY.

(Fragment from a Romance founded upon evidence given before the Select Committee upon Dram-drinking.)

“I really think the experiment should be made,” said the Professor.  “Our knowledge on the subject is so imperfect, that nothing definite can be accurately pronounced.”

“True enough,” replied one of his friends; “but although the end to be attained is excellent, may not the means be termed by the scrupulous ‘questionable?’”