A LEVEE AT NEWMARKET 339 



kept us all alive throughout the evening with his good 

 humour and wit. Tom Smith, too, was there ; but not 

 in the most exuberant spirits for it appears he had won 

 more money that day than he was afraid he should 

 receive the next, through judiciously selecting a man to 

 bet with in the front of the rooms whom he had never 

 seen before, and not even having thought it worth while 

 to ask his name. But he had not lost, and that was 

 some comfort ; and after a few glasses of grog for he 

 was not at all particular as to the number of them, if 

 they were only hot and strong he became mirthful, and 

 sang us, ' With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly fly across the 

 foaming main,' thinking, perhaps, that the man he had 

 betted with might be going in the same direction. So 

 effective in restoring his good spirits were a fresh cigar 

 and a replenished glass, that he had even the audacity 

 to call upon the chairman for a toast, only, however, to 

 be told not to be in a hurry. For Mr. Eobinson had no 

 idea that the cart should be put before the horse, but 

 preferred to open the business of the evening in his own 

 way by pointing out, in a short simple speech, that we 

 had gathered together for the purpose of enjoying our- 

 selves, and proposing that the recalcitrants should be 

 ' immediately expelled.' Then in due course came a 

 demand for ' a story ' from the chairman, a proposal 

 received in every quarter of the room, already suffused 

 with smoke and the rich odours of steaming grog, with 

 shouts of approval. And of course the story followed ', 

 and I prefer to give it as nearly as I can remember in my 

 old friend's own words : 



The story,' said the chairman, ' of the ubiquitous 

 porcine quadruped, or the changeable foxhound puppy, 

 is what I shall now relate. Frank Butler (we all know 

 him) was fond of jokes, and was himself a good punster. 



