HOW THE NEWS CAME 3 



for the machine, an' A couldna ha'e taen't binna 00 

 had baith gotten doon, an' the twa whulps hed folHt 

 mi i' the cuipples an' they micht ha'e rin amang 

 her legs, an' mair as that, the wumman said there 

 wuz a answer wantit till the telegraph." 



Whereupon I returned to the house in search of 

 the wumman and the *' telegraph," whom I presently 

 found. From a sort of reverie I was roused by the 

 voice of Joanna saying, "The tele-girl is waiting to 

 take the reply, and the puppies have already eaten 

 the envelope and are attacking her bicycle. Is there 

 any reply ? " 



Joanna knew there was, for, as she afterwards 

 explained, she saw me extract the prepaid form from 

 its cover, and she wondered what caused the wide 

 grin to spread over my countenance ; but she wished 

 to be enlightened and consulted in the matter. 



" Yes, there is a reply — an answer obvious — a ques- 

 tion, in fact, as follows : ' Would I if offered accept 

 a first-class ticket to Elysium ? ' " 



We watched the so-called tele-girl wending her way 

 down the drive on her solid-tyred bike, crawling 

 across the bridge as if on a tortoise race, and dis- 

 appearing round the bend of the road ; and we won- 

 dered if the message, carefully read out and spelled 

 over to her, had created any emotion other than that 

 of pity in her stolid breast. 



Then Joanna said, " Well ? " 



I spread the crumpled pink paper out on my knee. 

 " No, ' Playmate,' down, * Pastime,' you don't get this 

 document to eat." It read : " Would you if offered 

 take on the Forest fox-hounds as huntsman and master. 

 Reply," and this over the, name Gideon Dodd, one of 



