We vowed Mutt we would do better next time ; hut next time never came ; the crop was oyer. I still go once a day and hunt in vain for a few pods, while I sadly calculate the cost of that one spoonful of edible peas. There wore three pints of peas at a shilling ; a dozen wire guards, two and nine ; red lead, twopence ; two bundles of pea sticks at tivepence, and three shillings’ worth of toads ; to say nothing of the hose, which we have not used since we bought it. I met one of those toads yes terday ; he actually had the effrontery to wink at me.
As I write 1 see a small boy coming in at (ho gate. I know perfectly well what he wants—lie has toads. There is still a batraehian epidemic in the village, and the children have loads instead of mumps and measles. That fraud Smith now says that our garden is evidently not suitable for growing peas. He wants me to try en cumbers next year. If he does not leave me in peace, I shall try bludgeons or poison. “ New Budget.”

The Drummer and the Geese.
