230 Hai'k Away. 



on again, we visit the head of the Russell family, 

 and pass an hour or two in pleasant converse anent 

 old times and matters relating to sport ; and, after 

 receiving a cordial invitation to visit Horton Kirby 

 in the scoring, and try my hand at trout-fishing, we 

 trot back again to Otford Castle. Compelled to 

 return to London the following morning, after a 

 sharp run in one of the well-appointed trains of the 

 Chatham and Dover Eailway, I found myself in the 

 City, up to my neck in mud and dirt, hardly able 

 to grope my way in the fog and mist attendant 

 upon a temporary thaw, an uncomfortable state of 

 things, contrasting unfavourably with the pleasant 

 time I had passed at Otford. 



" But pleasures are like poppies spread, 

 You seize the flower, the bloom is shed ; 

 Or like the snowfall on the river, 

 A moment white, then melts for ever." 





