tOM DRAWLS VISIT TO tIN BROOit. 177 



li Well ! that matter seems to be settled,'* answered I, when I 

 had finished the perusal of this most notable epistle. " I sup- 

 pose he will be here to the fore !'' 



" Sartain !" responded Archer, grinning; "and do you for 

 once, if possible which I suppose it is not be in time for dinner ; 

 I will not wait five minutes, and I shall give you a good feed ; 

 pack up your traps, and Tim shall call for them at two. We 

 dine at three, mind ! Start from my door at half-past five, so 

 as to get across in the six o'clock boat. Hard will be looking 

 out for us, I know, about this time, at Pine Brook ; and we 

 shall do it easy in three hours, for the roads will be heavy. Come 

 along, dogs. Good bye, Frank. Three o'clock ! now don't be 

 late, there's a good lad. Here Flash ! here Dan !" and gather- 

 ing his Macintosh about him, exit Harry. 



Thereupon to work I went with a will ; rummaged up gun, 

 cleaning-rod, copper-caps, powder-horns, shot-pouch, and all the 

 et ceteras of shooting, which being always stowed away with 

 so much care at the end of one season, that they are undis- 

 coverable at the beginning of the next are sources of eternal 

 discomfiture to those most all-accomplished geniuses, high 

 sportsmen's servants : got out and greased my fen boots with 

 the fit admixture of tallow, tar, beeswax, and Venice turpentine ; 

 hunted up shooting jacket, corduroys, plaid waistcoat, and 

 check shirts ; and, in fact, perpetrated the detested task of pack- 

 ing, barely in time for Timothy, who, as he shouldered my port- 

 manteau, and hitched up the waistband of his own most volu- 

 minous unmentionables, made out in the midst of grins and 

 nods, and winks, to deliver himself to the following effect 



" Please sur, measter says, if you ple-ase to moind three o't 

 clock for he'll be dommed, he said, please Measter Forester, av 

 he waits haaf a minit " 



" Very well, Tim, very well that'll do I'll be ready." 



" And Measter Draw be coom'd tew nay but Ay do think 

 'at he's fatter noo than iver ecod, Ayse laff to see him doon i' 

 t' mossy meadows laike he'll swear, Ayse warrant him." 



And with a burst of merriment, that no one pair of mortal 

 lips save Timothy's alone could ever have accomplished, he with- 

 drew, leaving me to complete my toilet ; in which, believe me, 

 gentle reader, mindful of a good feed and of short law, I made 

 no needless tarrying. 



The last stroke of the hour appointed had not yet stricken 

 when I was on the steps of Harry's well-known snug two-storied 



