The Bishop of Barchester 



dock gate. And sure enough, out comes the major 

 ridin' 'is little chestnut bit o' all-right, 'er stepping 

 as light and pretty under 'im as a piece o' cork in a 

 choppy sea. Then there is somethin' o' a wait, so 

 they tells me, as if Hi didn't know better than 

 anyone else — the delay resultin' from 'is 'Oliness 

 'avin 'ooked 'is teeth around my thumb as I'm 

 spongin' out 'is mouth. Then the capt'in gets 

 provoked and kicks him with the spurs — the 

 Bishop gives a buck-jump, lets out one o' them 

 'orrifying sounds, and goes boundin' through the 

 gate and up onto the turf. One woman fainted, 

 so the colonel says afterward, though 'e's apt to 

 hexaggerate, but Hi knows the band stopped 

 playing right in the middle o' *'God Save the 

 Queen," and leaned over the railin' to see what 

 'ad 'appened, for I was there and sees them. 

 Then people just sat down wherever they 'appened 

 to be, and 'eld their sides, near bustin' themselves 

 wHith larfter. I would ha' almost felt sorry for 

 the major if 'e 'adn't been so ugly. Oh, the cap- 

 tin's got a 'orrible sense o' humor when 'e's 'urt. 



"And maybe that mule didn't know, sir? Oh, 

 no, 'e didn't know nothink, 'e didn't, so white and 

 innocent lookin' ! 'E was just a bit o' a Shetland 

 pony, puUin' the nussmaid and kiddies about in 

 the park, 'e was. Why, the way that mule carried 

 on was frightenin'. Everytime the starter, who's 

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