“Oh, you have suffered, that we know; you have suffered even more than we, who at least were spared the ravaging of our lands.  And never for a moment do we forget this.  But you too must not forget that where the soil of France suffered most there thickest lie our English dead, who fought for England’s freedom, yes, but for your freedom too.  And it is we who stand by you still, pledged to be once more at your side if the same peril ever come again; though America, for whom nothing was once too good, should fail you in your need.

“There, I have said what I wanted to say; what your best friends here have been thinking this many a day.  For your best friends are not, as you might imagine, to be found in a certain section of our Press who for their own political or private ends are prepared to encourage all your suspicions if so they may injure the good name of our statesmen who meet you in council for the common cause.  Your best friends are the men who deplore those suspicions; who beg you, as I do here, to get them swept away as being unworthy of a great nation and a great alliance.

“For this end, Believe me, dear Madame, to be at your service as always,

“PUNCH.”

Here ends the letter.]

“And now, dear lady,” said Mr. Punch, “let me say that, if there is anything in this letter which seems—­but only on the surface—­to be inconsistent with my profound devotion to your person, it is the first word of the kind that I have put on paper since our friendship began.  All through the War and the hardly less trying times of Peace that have followed it I have not once swerved from my loyalty to you.  Accept, I beg of you, the renewed assurance of my affection the most sincere, and, for token, this latest of a series in which you will find many proofs of the love I bear you—­my

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHTH VOLUME.”

[Illustration]

* * * * *

[Illustration:  INDEX]

CARTOONS.

  PARTRIDGE, BERNARD
    Air-Craftiness, 471
    Another Reservation, 111
    Blameless Accomplice (The), 511
    Dark Horse (A), 431
    Exit the Ministering Angel, 371
    Forgotten Cause (The), 211
    Great Improviser (The), 451
    His First Patient, 491
    Homage from the Brave, 391
    Hope of the World (The), 271
    In a Cushy Cause, 331
    International Eurhythmics, 151
    Kindest Cut of All (The), 191
    Levy on Patriotism (A), 291
    Limit—­and Beyond (The), 411
    Occasional Comrades, 251
    Reckoning (The), 351
    Restoring the Balance, 311
    Return of the ex-Champion (The), 171
    Rouge Gagne, 71
    Test of Sagacity (A), 131
    Unpopular Revival (An), 231
    Woman of Some Importance (A), 91