(_Many old English flagons are adorned inside with grotesque figures
of animals_.)
Within my foaming flagon
There crawls on countless legs
A lazy grinning dragon
That wallows in the dregs;
Of old I saw him nightly
Look up with friendly leer,
As if to hint politely,
"I share your taste in beer!"
Through merry nights unnumbered
(From Boxing Day to Yule)
He'd greet me, ere I slumbered,
From out his amber pool;
But now he is beginning
To look a trifle strange;
His smile, once wide and winning,
Has undergone a change.
No more, as pints diminish
(I wish the price grew less)
He hails me at the finish
With wonted cheeriness;
For, as I drain my mellow
Allowances of ale,
He seems to sigh, "Old fellow,
_Will_ PUSSYFOOT prevail?"
* * * * *
=Commercial Candour.=
"Cleaning and pressing suites, $3. Dyeing and pressing suits, $6.
Clothes returned looking like now."
_Advt. in_ "_Standard_" (_Buenos Aires_).
* * * * *