"Then my leg, as in a vice"--but here the revelation faltered,
And the medium rose and shook himself, remarking with a smile
That the requisite conditions were irrevocably altered,
For the personality of Biggs was lost in crocodile.
Now, whether Sludge's story would succeed in holding water
Is more, perhaps, than one has any business to suspect;
But I know that on the strength of it I married Biggs's daughter,
And I found a certain portion of the narrative correct.
THE AMENITIES OF SHOPPING.
BY LEOPOLD WAGNER.
If there is one thing I do dislike, it is to go into a draper's shop.
To my mind, it is not a man's business at all; it is one essentially
feminine. I have never been able to reconcile, myself to the
troublesome formalities one has to go through in these marts of
female finery; there seems to be no such thing as to pop inside for
a trifling article, lay down your money for it, and get away again.
No; the system of trade pursued at such establishments is undoubtedly
to get you to sit down, with leisure to look about you, and coax you
into buying things you don't want.
Years ago, when I was living in lonely lodgings, I had occasion one
Saturday night to slip into the nearest draper's shop for some pins.
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