i84 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



the first may pass away and fit us for vigorous enjoy- 

 ment. It's then that we can bring something to the 

 feast that makes a day of sport worth a week on 

 crowded sands in August. 



Euston, a waving flag and a loud-resounding whistle, 

 and we are off to Ireland where I and mine are sure 

 to be at home. I shall jimip the journey, merely 

 mentioning that the sea was lively, and that there 

 were those on board who would have liked to jmnp it 

 too. 



No sooner were we on Irish soil than I heard my 

 name. I like to ensure my bed, as more than once 

 I have had to do without one in that same country, 

 but it remains a mystery to me how the hotel porter 

 picked me out from a throng of people who must have 

 looked more in need of bed than I did. We were just 

 in time for dinner, for which the sea had made us 

 eager; and after that there was an evening to do with 

 as we chose. 



For many years I have had no need to guide my 

 sons to places of amusement, as my knowledge of 

 where best to go is of the scantiest compared with 

 the experiences of even the youngest of them. 

 I mention this because it was in consequence of a 

 whisper that Harry gave the driver of a car that we 

 were quickly over a mile of Dublin cobbles and in 

 the midst of a crowd that carried us into a very noisy 

 entertainment. Of course I protested, but there 

 I was, to be a witness, however much I might be 

 pained, of the fare provided. I was pained quite 

 early, and had to hold my sides until Harry came to 

 my relief with 'Steady, dad, steady.' I never tried 

 harder in all my life to follow good advice, but occa- 

 sionally I had to hold my sides; they ached so. To 

 make matters worse, the turns that pained me most 

 were boisterously encored, and so great was the 

 contagion of clapping hands, that I caught myself 

 :n the very act of clapping mine. 



