fire. What could be more delightful?'

'What indeed?' said Bunyip Bluegum sipping tea.

'Why, as I always say,' said Bill, 'if there's one thing more entrancin' than sittin' round a camp fire in the evenin' it's sitting round a camp fire in the mornin'. No bed and blankets and breakfast tables for Bill Barnacle. For as I says in my "Breakfast Ballad"—

'If there's anythin' better than lyin' on leaves,

It's risin' from leaves at dawnin',

If there's anythin' better than sleepin' at eve,

It's wakin' up in the mawnin'.

'If there's anythin' better than camp firelight,

It's bright sunshine on wakin'.

If there's anythin' better than puddin' at night,

It's puddin' when day is breakin'.

'If there's anythin' better than singin' away

While the stars are gaily shinin',

Why, it's singin' a song at dawn of day,

On puddin' for breakfast dinin'.'

[Pg 38]

There was a hearty round of applause at this song, for as Bunyip Bluegum remarked, 'Singing at breakfast should certainly be more commonly indulged in, as it greatly tends to enliven what is on most occasions a somewhat dull proceeding.'

'One of the great advantages of being a professional Puddin'-owner,' said Sam Sawnoff, 'is that songs at breakfast are always encouraged. None of the ordinary breakfast rules, such as scowling while eating, and saying the porridge is as stiff as glue and the eggs are as tough as leather, are observed. Instead, songs, roars of laughter, and boisterous jests 

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