34 MEMOIR OF 



no joke setting to with him, for Rowlands him- 

 self had acknowledged that he could teach him 

 nothing. Nevertheless, Russell, regardless of the 

 punishment he knew must follow, responded 

 readily to the summons. He stood up, and 

 stopped and countered with the coolness of a 

 professional, but, as he soon found, to little 

 purpose. Denne forced him into a corner, 

 paused a moment, and thus warned him : " Now, 

 Jack, you are going to catch it!" 



"Perhaps I am," said the other; "but don't 

 make too sure of that." 



The words had scarcely escaped the enclo- 

 sure of his teeth, ere a tremendous left-hander, 

 coming straight from the shoulder, caught him 

 on the lower jaw with such violence that it 

 sent him reeling against a table, bringing him 

 and it to the ground with a fearful crash. "I 

 really thought," said Russell, relating the story 

 to a friend long afterwards, "that my chin had 

 been knocked away ; nor could I masticate a 

 bit of roast beef for many a subsequent day." 



On the table that fell with him had stood a 

 brass-bound writing-desk, which, besides the 

 usual materials of such an article, contained a 

 number of letters and notes, curiously folded, 

 and written on coloured and gold-edged paper, 

 while not a few other souvenirs, more or less 

 valuable, were scattered broadcast on the floor. 

 Shocked apparently by this unwonted exposure. 



