The Rev. Marmaduke Merrythought. 35 



to an admiring friend, " and," he added, " if it had not 

 been for Mrs. B. insisting upon it that it would make the 

 »ouse so damp, blow me if I wouldn't 'ave 'ad one." 



Of course he has his Master of the Horse, and his 

 Groom of the Chambers, and a sort of bailiff, whom he is 

 pleased to call his Land Steward, notwithstanding the fact 

 that there are only 300 acres of land attached to the whole 

 estate, fifty of which belong to the park round the " House 

 that Bobbin built." He has all these, and, determined not 

 to be outdone by his next-door neighbour, the ''Dook," as 

 he calls him, he first of all builds a church in his park, 

 taking care to put in it an elaborate organ and no 

 end of painted windows. He next rummages out from 

 somewhere a poor weak little party, whom he remunerates 

 with a hundred a year and a room at the top of the 'ouse 

 — we beg pardon, ''castle" — and who, from that time forth, 

 is known as Mister Bobbin's private chaplain. 



The last we heard of Mr. B.'s private chaplain was that 

 he had walked off one fine day in company with the 

 youngest Miss Bobbin (as ill luck would have it, the only 

 good-looking one of the lot). Whether the ex-staylace- 

 maker will eventually forgive the errant pair remains to be 

 seen. We believe that he is now looking out for another 

 chaplain — an old and ugly one preferred. But, bless me, 

 how we are digressing ! The readers will say, what on 

 earth has all this got to do with the Harkawa}- Hunt ? 

 Well, only this, that, if all these buffers we have mentioned, 

 these retired staylace-makers, these army soldiers, these 

 gig-lamp makers' and candlestick makers' companies, &c., 

 possess an ornament in the shape of a chaplain, why, we 

 ask, should not the estimable company of sportsmen 

 forming the Harkaway Hunt indulge in a similar treasure ? 



D — 2 



