906 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



" Ned by this time joined them again, and they pro- 

 ceeded to the house. They were scarcely in the room, 

 when the gentleman who had laid the wager proposed 

 having some oysters before dinner, as a whet ; but at the 

 same time feared there were none fresh enough at that end 

 of the town, and proposed to send down to Billingsgate 

 for some. It was objected that it would take too much 

 time, otherwise they approved the notion. ' Nay,' says 

 Ned, * let that be no hindrance. My chariot is at the 

 door, and I'll despatch Tom away with it directly ; and he 

 may be back in half-an-hour.' 



" ' You see,' continued Sir Richard, ' the intent of this 

 story, on how absurd a foundation soever it may be built. 

 I told it my wife as a family piece of instruction, and you 

 see that she has good sense enough, on the mention of 

 * oysters,' to see and confess her error.' : 



