Squire jforester anb Uom /lftoo&\? 39 



that he had never heard better justice done to his com- 

 positions. The company kept the ball rolling into the 

 small hours of the morning, and then a ludicrous inci- 

 dent happened, which I quote from Mr Randall as an 

 illustration of the coarseness of the manners of the time, 

 and the boyish love of practical joking in vogue even 

 among grey beards. 



' Then some one told the tale of Old Tinker's last run ; 

 the last bit of court scandal was discussed, and the festi- 

 vities of the evening had extended into the small hours 

 of the morning, when during a brief pause in the general 

 mirth a tremendous crash was heard, and the squire, 

 rushing out to see what was the matter, met one of the 

 servants, who said the sound came from the larder, 

 whither Mr Forester repaired. Looking in he saw 

 Parson Stephens /;/ Jiis shirt, and with presence of mind 

 turned the key, and went back to his company to con- 

 sider how he should turn the incident to account. 



' It appears that Stephens had been some time in bed, 

 when, waking from his first sleep, he fancied he should 

 like a dip into the venison pie, and forthwith had 

 gone down into the larder, where, in searching for the 

 pie, he knocked down the dish with one or two more. 

 The squire was not long in making up his mind. He 

 declared it was time to retire ; but before doing so they 

 must have a country dance, and insisted on the whole 

 household being roused to take part in it. There was 

 no resisting the wishes of the host ; the whole of the 

 house assembled, and formed sides for a dance in the 

 hall, through which Stephens must necessarily pass in 

 going to his room. Whilst this was taking place, Mr 

 Forester slipped the key into the door, and going behind 

 Stephens,' unkennelled his fox, making the parson run 



