6 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



lawyers say) — if there are any such 

 long-suffering individuals born yet — may 

 have had the thought flash through their 

 minds at some period of their existence, 

 *' How would it be if I tried to write a 

 book ? " Awfully funny sensation when 

 you really ask yourself the question in 

 earnest. "What the deuce shall I write 

 about?" comes the reply. Naturally, the 

 maudlin schoolgirl must write a pathetic 

 love-story. Let me strongly advise her 

 not to start that subject too young, 

 though. I should suggest " Botany " or 

 '* Bird Life in the Woods and on the 

 Coast" as a preliminary canter at any 

 age under five and twenty. By then 

 and in the ordinary course she will 

 doubtless have broken four or five men's 

 hearts, or peradventure the man she 

 secretly adores will have gone and 

 married " quite a common-looking creature 



