ANECDOTES OF COLONEL JOHN COOK. 69 



" However deep he may have been in his cups over- 

 night — and it must be granted he was too apt to be so — it 

 never seemed to affect him in the mornino;, when he was 

 always at his post in time. This reminds me of an anec- 

 dote told of him and his intimate friend and ally, the late 

 Major, alias Billy, Calcraft. They were dining together 

 with a jolly party of brother sportsmen at St-rm-r Hall, in 

 Essex " [probably Sturmer Hall, near Haverhill], "when, 

 owing to some trivial dispute, when deep in their cups, the 

 ire of both became so great that each insisted on honour- 

 able satisfaction from the other. The hounds were to meet 

 at a considerable distance in the morning, and after the 

 party had broken up, therefore (which, by-the-bye, was long- 

 after the little hours had commenced), these two right 

 honoiirable friends adjourned to a shed, there to await the 

 first dawn of day, and of course, if possible, kill each other. 

 It was a bitter cold night in December, but the fumes of 

 Bacchus soon sent our heroes to sleep. Their surprise, 

 however, at wakinor and finding themselves in this ridicu- 

 lous situation, both close together and lying in the same 

 crib — their poor hacks, too, which they had left running 

 loose, having crept into the same place for shelter — excited 

 the risible faculties of both to such a degree that they both 

 simultaneously shook hands, and rode home together in 



