WHEN A FRIEND of mine became engaged to be married,
and took his young woman along to make Willie's acquaintance, Willie—then about ninety-five or so—said on hearing her surname that there had been a boy of that name at his private school, 'the spit and image of this young lady: why, she might be his sister.' Adding' thoughtfully, 'Mind you, I'm talking of the year 1869.' The odd thing was that he was probably quite right, both about the name and the reseinb" lance : the girl's great-uncle had been at some such school and at that time—Willie had a re- markable memory for names and faces. That was why he was great fun to talk to, to the very end of his life. I should like to be as gay amusing, and interested in all that goes on, wheil I am 101, and boasting to my young friends that I had often taken tea in Albany with a man who had been too old for the Boer War, ha'', attended Disraeli's funeral and had once roWN Marie Vetsera round the harbour at Brindisi. 11 seems almost impossible to believe that the sill old fellow who lived until this very week, still able to tell you how big and beautiful were Marie Vetsera's eyes, was born quite a few Inonl", h,s, earlier than the Archduke Rudolf, who died W her at Mayerling in 1889. PHAII°5
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