That there is an ancient quaint rhyme, as follows—the old almanacks
having a wrong version:—
"In April,
Grisi opes her bill;
In May,
To hear her you pay;
In June,
She's in full tune;
In July,
Her benefit is nigh;
In August,
Take a stall you must."
That the only Poles now found in May, about London, are the distressed
patriots in the cheap eating-houses and copper hells in the
neighbourhood of Leicester Square. The sport is not extinct, as little
boys may still be seen dancing round the more eccentric specimens of the
class. The only reason that these poles have not fallen down, like those
in the country, is, that they are supposed to be very hard up.
That although the almanacks declare that perch, ruff, bream, gudgeon,
flounders, dace, minnows, trout, and eels may be taken this month, this,
to say the least of it, requires confirmation. We have tried often, but
never took anything, except taking ourselves off after a fruitless time.
[Illustration:
The country here is swarmin' with the most alarmin' kind o' varmin.
]
THE ZODIAC—JUNE.
THE LAND-CRAB.
[_Extract from a forthcoming Novel, by the Author of "The Spy,"
"The Pilot," "The Red Rover," &c. &c. &c. &c._]
"It was too late. Their fearful enemy, that scourge so dreaded by the
negro race of the Southern States, the terrible Land-Crab, was upon
them. Copper Joe, never remarkable for heroism, lost the small remains
of presence of mind which the encounter with the Comanches had left him,
and, in attempting to fly, fell prostrate, injuring his abdomen
severely. Andromache, with her youthful charge, after a vain effort to
rouse her fat husband, Noah, to resistance, joined in the general rout.
But the heroic Sambo stood his ground. His eyes glared, his white teeth
shone from ear to ear, as, with right foot firmly planted in advance, he
stood a sable Antinous, awaiting, with uplifted club, two onsets of the
terrible enemy. It was a dreadful moment!"
THE QUEEN OF THE FÊTE.
BY ALFRED TENNYSON.