THE LOVE-CHILD. 41 



stained with gore of yesterday's date, was bound tight about his brow 

 but with so little care, that, judging from the clotted locks which 

 dangled over his eyes, some of his long black hair had been bandaged 

 into the wound. The pony curled his upper lip outward, and re- 

 peatedly tossed his head, on account of his disrelish for the butter 

 but his eyes flushed with malicious delight at the spoliation which he 

 had perpetrated. On his back, a little girl dressed in blue and silver, 

 who bore a slight resemblance to the boy, was timidly trying to jump 

 through a hoop. Every body was talking at a high pitch, to make 

 themselves heard above the crash and din of the fair every body was 

 busy and neither the little girl nor any one else took the least notice 

 of the boy's wrath at the loss of his bread and butter it was entirely 

 an affair between him and the pony. On the other side, a barber's 

 apprentice, with dismay depicted on his countenance, was mowing^ 

 the bristles from the chin of a terrific gentleman, attired in a very 

 shabby shirt, splendid red silk pantaloons, and brimstone-coloured 

 boots. 



The goat had tossed me between two trusses of hay my debut 

 from the cleft in the canvass had been unnoticed, and I might have 

 remained snug in my berth, had not the approach of the pony to 

 within my reach tempted me to put out my hand and deprive him of 

 the crust, for the purpose of restoring it to the roaring boy with the 

 bandaged head, to whom I triumphantly darted off with it at full 

 speed. I calculated that this little bit of good nature would con- 

 stitute a capital introduction but it turned out exceedingly cala- 

 mitous. The pet pony was the most vicious little villain alive he 

 pursued me with open mouth, and I had to dodge successively about 

 every individual in the place to avoid his teeth. All this of course 

 created a frightful uproar. The little girl in blue and silver was 

 thrown off the saucepan of sausages was upset the barber's boy was 

 bitten by mistake the terrific gentleman in the brimstone boots 

 climbed a pole that supported part of the roof the women uttered 

 appalling screams of ' ' murder ! " and ' e the pony ! " a dozen huge 

 fellows with enormous cudgels broke through the back of the booth-*-, 

 but nobody attempted to put in a blow on my behalf except the boy- 

 father of the hobgoblin infant, under the folds of whose immense 

 mantle I had sought security as a last resource. The lad stood up in 

 front of us, and struck out at the pony right and left ; but it was not 

 until he had dealt him two or three staggering hits on the nose, and 

 received a bad bite on the wrist in return, that he could prevail on the 

 fierce little brute to withdraw. At this instant Lavolta appeared 

 and the sight of him struck the pony with such terror, that he retired 

 trembling to his corner, but not without several severe kicks on his 

 seat of honour from the terrific gentleman in the brimstone boots. 



This personage was prodigiously indignant at what had occurred. 

 He threatened to throw up his engagement if more consideration 

 were not displayed for the feelings of a gentleman. Who, he would 

 venture to ask, was Master Nicholas Green, that he was not to be 

 kept with the other tumbling boys in the company ? What business 

 had he, giving him full credit for his bad head, to intrude on the 

 toilet of ladies and gentlemen with pantaloons or without but 



M.M. No. 91. G 



