... THE DASH OF LARKSPUR. A STORY OF THE DERBY. B-! G. G. I. HAS mine a chance? repeated old Jake Creamley, in response to a question as to the prospects of his candidate for Epsom honours; well, you know we've all a chance while we are alive. And my horse-- he chuckled with delight-- is certainly alive. That reply seemed to be, at the best, evasive, if not enigmatical. Horses in the dead ...

... . By NAT GOULD. SOME curious transactions took place in Victoria in the early seventies. Men were not over particular in those days, and had not learned the true meaning of the rights of owner ship of property-- if they considered they possessed any rights at all. Get money-- honestly if you can, but get it-- was a maxim much thought of, honesty, however, being at a dis count. Horse-stealing ...

... . By 6. G. I. THE fact is well known and appreciated in sporting circles that a pigeon turned hawk is always dangerous. If he assumes lo be well connected, and possesses advantages not usually found in Newgate, we must be careful to keep out of his way. What he likes best, because it pays best, is racing with a pigeon under his wing. A person of the type thus feebly indicated knows how to ...

... . The season for fishing and fish stories is nearly ended for 1902, hence the appended narrative of remarkable tenacity of life on the part of Empire State black bass will be read with interest or incredulity One day last week Phillip Rutert and George G. JAirK, two anglers of Syracuse, went for a day's fishing, 'tis said, at Cross Lake. They were out on the lake early in the morning, and, ...

... . By Walter H. Holton. No picture of peaceful Broadland would be complete without a wherry. The graceful run of its lines and the huge high-peaked tan sail swinging well above the stocky, gaily painted mast, driving the squat, clean-cut bows with a hiss and a bubble along the shimmering reaches, make it one of the most picturesque craft in the world, while the brilliant splashes of colour ...

... . By J. R. de HAVILLAND. I HAVE always bean a fisherman; that is, ever since I read The Compleat Angler, where Venator and Piscator foregather over a jug ot ale, and the milkmaids sing old-fashioned songs to Isaac and his pupil before breakfast. It may subserve the interests ot trutn it i say mai, until 1 met Clara my knowledge was purely theoretical and limited to what may be acquired from ...

... . AN incident of which we were a spectator the other day set us thinking. Y and Z had a score of 20, in the third game of the rubber. Z dealt and opened the bidding with one diamond. A (on his left) declared one spade upon six to the knave and not another card worth men tioning. Y, who had king, queen to four diamonds, ace, king to six clubs, the king of hearts guarded, and a single spade, ...

... THE PITFALLS 0# FICTION. A correspoxhent writes I wish you would ask Rapier to rend and explain the first two chapters of Disraeli's Sybil, which deal with the eve and the day of the Derby of 1857. In a vast and golden saloon that in its decorations would have become, and in its splendour would not have disgraced, Versailles in the days of the grand monarch were assembled many young ...

... By The Shaker. THE motorist had engaged a new chauffeur, and, finding that he was a young and somewhat flighty person, he impressed upon him the neces sity for careful driving. As a general rule, the car owner said, you can leave adults to take care of themselves, but you must be very, very careful whenever you see children in the street. The chauffeur nodded his complete understanding. I ...

... . From Mr. Ernest Bo wen-Rowland's In Court and Out of Court (1925). SOME twenty years ago Sir Henry Brampton, then a Judge, was due to dine with a local magnate somewhere near Chester. It was the commission day of the Assizes, and a large party had been invited to meet him, including the Bishop of the diocese. Now it happened that Sir Henry arrived at the house nearly an hour late, and it ...

... . BY THOMAS KELLY. BY an almost unanimous verdict the friends of Spriggins agreed that his luck was phenomenal, Everything that he chanced seemed in the end to justify his choice, or his judgment as he himself would have said. If he bought a lame duck not only would it be able to swim gracefully, but would most likely turn out to be a young swan. When he took up some shares in a company that ...

... THE WAT OF THE TRANSCT.: .R. By J. SACKVILLE MARTIN. LEWIS STAINES stood before the bureau of the hotel, staring at the register which the clerk had pushed across the counter to him. The clerk spoke very little English, and Mr. Staines very little French, but it was not that, but rather the register itself that was embarrass ing him. After a moment's pause he wrote rapidly, Mr. and Mrs. F. ...