136 



Mr. Benjamin Bobbin. 



The dinner party and the ball were tremendous suc- 

 cesses, and the Bobbin family decidedly scored. Mrs. 

 Colonel Bluebottle, who was one of the leaders of fashion 

 in the county, expressed her opinion that " The Bob- 

 binses, my dear, are parvenoos — mere parvenoos, of 

 course, but worthy people, on the whole, really ve-e-ry 

 worthy people, indeed." 



Mrs. Bluebottle herself, of course, was qualified to be a 

 judge, being a daughter of a ham and beef shop proprietor 

 in the Borough. Bluebottle had come across her at a 

 table d'hote at some German watering-place, and finding 

 out that she had got lots of stuff, as he elegantly called it, 

 he quickly popped the question, and soon after married her. 



Mr. Benjamin Bobbin, though hardly what one would 

 call a sportsman, is a Flower of the Hunt for all that, and, 

 in fact, he has written to ask us to be sure to include him 

 in our sketches. 



He adds, in a postscript, that his friend, Charles Wild- 

 oats, has promised to use his best influence with Lord 

 Daisyfield to try and induce his lordship to bring his 

 hounds to meet at Oakley Hall one day soon ; and if they 

 do, winds up Mr. Bobbin, " what a flare up I will have to 

 be sure!" 



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