THE EIGHT-FOOTED SLIPPER 



DID you ever hear of the curious riddle which 

 old-fashioned people in the North used to 

 tell one another on Wednesday mornings? It 

 was something like this: 



" Who are the two that ride over the rainbow? 

 Three eyes have they together, ten feet, two 

 arms, and a tail. And thus they journey through 

 the world." 



You can't guess it, and it will be of no use for 

 you to try. But all those old-fashioned people 

 knew the answer; and everybody repeated the 

 question to everybody else, not as a puzzle nor 

 to gain information, but simply because it was 

 the custom, and therefore the right thing to do. 

 In that respect it was like the briefer and more 

 matter-of-fact riddle which people propound to 

 one another nowadays : " It 's a fine morning, 

 is n't it ? " But it did n't mean the same. The 

 answer which everybody gave to everybody was 

 this: 



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