THE DOUBTFUL DAY 271 



the window-pane ; but the opening of shutters next 

 morning has revealed fantastic patterns of fern 

 and fohage executed in high reKef by the frost upon 

 the glass, and despair has taken possession of our 

 souls. 



There is in the collection of Mr. Punch a truly 

 heart-breaking picture by John Leech, which repre- 

 sents a sportsman clad in his " nighty " (pyjamas 

 were unknown in England in the fifties) looking out 

 of his window. Misery and wrath are depicted on 

 his countenance, and a pair of beautifully cleaned 

 top-boots stand on the floor beside him. " This is 

 Jones, who thought to slip down by rail early in the 

 morning and have a gallop with the foxhounds. On 

 looking out of the window he finds it is a clear, frosty 

 morning. He sees a small boy sliding — actually 

 sliding ! — on the pavement opposite ! And doesn't he 

 hate that boy — and doesn't he say it's a beastly 

 climate ! " Probably Jones, as he intended to hunt 

 by train, went back to bed, and there the matter 

 ended ; and several times this season we have looked 

 out of the window and thought of Jones, and found 

 a face wearing a similar expression reflected in the 

 looking-glass : but then we reflect that one night's 

 frost was seldom known to stop hunting when the 

 sun shone brightly the next morning, and so the 

 miseries of the day begin. First there is a consultation 

 with the groom before dressing for hunting. Now, 

 grooms are always decided pessimists or equally 

 decided optimists as to the feasibility of hunting. If 

 your man be an optimist, why, the horse " goes on " ; 

 if the reverse, he is generally told to wait till you 



