RAGGING 229 



He turned to the young lady behind the 

 counter. 



" Will you show me those delicious green ones 

 again ?" he begged. " I don't think I should 

 ever weary of looking at them. There's some- 

 thing so fresh, so virginal about them. They 

 suggest Spring, and gooseberry tart, and creme 

 de menthe, and all those delightful things, and 

 I don't suppose we really need be afraid of 

 arsenical poisoning, need we ?" 



" How many will you require ?" asked the 

 maiden with some natural petulance, as she once 

 more exposed the sheet of halfpenny stamps to 

 our admiring gaze. 



" Only one," George replied, " only one; but 

 it must be a particularly good one. You see," 

 he added, "I'm not buying it for myself, but for 

 a friend who lives in the country, and he's such 

 a keen philatelist that I shouldn't like to dis- 

 appoint him. Last time I sent him a postcard 

 he was very much annoyed because I'd for- 

 gotten to send a stamp with it. I believe he 

 had to pay quite a lot of money before the 

 postman would surrender it." 



By this time a long queue of customers had 

 formed behind us, and the lady clerk's patience 

 was becoming exhausted. 



" Do you desire a halfpenny stamp, sir, or 

 not ?" she asked angrily. 



