Origin of our aeon Canana. 1< 



hanger for the nonce, with Judy for my help. Though 

 I had not served a regular apprenticeship to the trade, 

 I never doubted for a moment but that we should soon 

 accomplish the task, and was somewhat surprised to 

 find out that, like many other things in the world, it 

 was not so easy as it seemed. 



The woodwork being put up first, it seemed the 

 quickest and most natural way to cut the paper the 

 whole length required at once, rather than into a 

 number of short strips from the roof to the floor. This 

 I accordingly did; and having often seen how the 

 regular practitioners paste a whole piece before putting 

 it on the wall, I thought I would do the same. So, 

 spreading my paper on the window-seat, I soon put on 

 the necessary paste to my complete satisfaction. Thus 

 far all was well, and I had only to put it up against the 

 wall close by and dab it down with a cloth. But, 

 alas! how true is the saying, "There's many a slip 

 between the cup and the lip." Taking hold of the 

 upper corner of one end, Judy doing the same at the 

 other, I just succeeded in raising it to the desired place, 

 when, horror of horrors ! the whole, from its weight, 

 gave way in our hands, tearing in all directions. As 

 fast as we attempted to save one part, another began to- 

 go ; our fingers thus got all over paste, and we made 

 an awful mess of the little we managed to preserve, till 

 at length, seeing the hopelessness of our task, we gave 

 it up as a bad job, when a general collapse ensuing, the 

 whole mass fell to the ground in one irreparable heap of 

 rubbish and ruin ! Here was a practical proof, indeed, 

 of the proof of the proverb which says, " the more haste, 



