) 

 20 COMMON INCIDENTS. 



appreciating, as he is enabled to do, the the " bienseances" of society, 

 he is very cautious, and even timid of rendering his habits a source 

 of annoyance, even to those who affect the grosser appetite of unli- 

 mited sleep. Instead, therefore, of ringing my bell, I had recourse 

 to the cosmoramic luxury which my window might afford. 



I threw up the sash: my chamber, as the French express it, 

 " donnoit dans la basse cour, the reflected light from three parallelo- 

 gramical brick houses, of which the inn forms a fourth, fell as yet 

 imperfectly below. 



I could distinguish, however, a series of dark shining circles, which 

 were shortly developed into the contents of an enormous bottle-rack. 

 Some pennons were now seen waving in the " battle field ;" but being 

 chiefly of a dark hue, what is professionally termed <( checked apron 

 stuff," hung upon a black horse-hair line, they had at first escaped my 

 observation. 



The rain, which I had long heard, was now visible in continuous 

 cataracts from the concave-tiled outhouses of the court. Two large 

 water-tubs, juxta-posited, with a communicating pipe, were running 

 over in tumultuous profusion ; some rabbits, encased in hutches 

 contiguous, seemed to contemplate with any thing but philosophic 

 admiration these mimic falls of the Niagara. Five washing-tubs and 

 three stands for ditto, were partially illumined by the god of day. 

 Various pieces of deteriorated crockery were discernable upon the 

 ground plan, some containing fish bones, some cold potatoes, and 

 brewers' grains. 



Suddenly the " cock's shrill clarion" startled me in my medita- 

 tions. Slowly from beneath the eaves of a hen-house door, emerged 

 the head and body of the proud harbinger of morn the cock but such 

 a cock ! In vain I watched for the egress of his tail he had none ; 

 in vain my imagination was strained to picture his glossy plumage : 

 the pen-feathered wretch stood bristling like a hedge-hog he was 

 moulting, poor devil, I supposed. I pitied him from my heart, 

 though my enthusiasm was somewhat clamped at not seeing him fly 

 upon some eminence, and execute his herald functions ; besides, he 

 got such a thorough ducking from the eaves of his dwelling as he 

 came forth, that he appeared, for an instant, undecided whether or 

 not to prosecute his crusade. Hen after hen followed in mute and 

 nervous succession, each undergoing the shower-bath. The whole 

 posse then congregated in a corner of the court, their tails drooping, 

 those that had any : some standing on one leg, " looking unutterable 

 things." I could not stand this. I felt the poultry " enter my soul," 

 and though a sprightly string of ducks was egressing from a bran- 

 and-pollard-spattered hatch, to enliven the scene, I incontinently 

 dashed my window down, and violently pulled the chamber bell- 

 rope. The rattling of the slack-wires against the ceiling left it 

 doubtful whether the summons had reached the bell ,- I repeated my 

 challenge frequently, with no better success ; at length I went into 

 the passage, and struck two or three bells sharply with my slipper 

 'twas all in vain the sounds died harmless on the air. Feelings, 

 something approaching to disgust, now began to assail me. I de- 

 scended the stairs, and succeeded in reaching the entrance passage : 



