The Mermaid's Prophecy and Other Songs Relating to Queen Dagmar

A New Parlour Game for the Family Circle As I sit in my poverty-stricken home, looking at the place where the piano used to be before I had to sell it to pay my income-tax, I find myself in thoughtful mood. The first agony of the separation from my hard-earned, so to speak income, is over, and I can see that I was unjust in my original opinion of the United States Government. At first, I felt toward the U.S.G. as I would feel toward any perfect stranger who insinuated himself into my home and stood me on my head and went through my pockets. The only difference I could see between the U.S.G. and the ordinary practitioner in a black mask was that the latter occasionally left his victim carfare. Gosh! I was bitter. Now, however, after the lapse of weeks, I begin to see the Other side. What the Government is going to do with it, I do not know — I can only hope that they will not spend it on foolishness and nut sundaes and the movies — but, apparently, they needed a few billion dollars, and you and I had to pay it. That part remains as unpleasant as ever. But what I, like so many Others, have overlooked is the thoughtfulness of the authorities in having chosen March for the final filling-up of their printed forms