THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



Next mornini; T fouiul, ah 1 woe is me, 



A dreadful pugilist is he. 



When will you pay my rent? quoth I ; 



He lifts his fist and cocks his eye. 



I then to Pollux made my vow, 



Although on peace my thoughts were now, 



That I, before next quarter day, 



Might learn to box, or run away.' " 



It was not to be expected that much science in the art of 

 self-defence Avas to be found in a o-aniekeeper's lad ; still many 

 ' turns-up ' with those who were bigger and older tlian himself 

 had imparted to Jem Perren a tolerable notion of taking- 

 some care of himself; and lie boasted of no less than three 

 favourite stops, and likewise of one very telling blow. These 

 were, of course, imparted to our hero, who would often be 

 seen taking lessons from his green-jacketed preceptor ; and 

 truly he was soon a proficient. He could not only hit very 

 hard, in whicli his weig^ht told to his advantage, but he could 

 stop, and get away, in a manner surprising for his age. Hence 

 arose one of the disadvantages of a slight knowledge of the 

 pugilistic art, combined with the power and inclination to put 

 it into practice. It created in Frank Raby a domineering 

 spirit, which, notwithstanding his good sense, and many 

 excellent qualities, adhered to him, in some measure, through 

 life. Althciugh his brother w^as his senior by nearly two years 

 he treated liim as his junior, and, by the weight of his fist, 

 established his claim of precedence. No boA^s in the neigh- 

 bouring villages dared to cross his patli in his pursuits, 

 provided they were near his own age, for his name was up. 

 On one occasion, however, he signalised himself beyond the 

 expectation of liis admiring friends ; and, from his extreme 

 good-nature, and kind disposition towards the necessitous 

 poor, he had many such in the neighbourhood in which he 

 was known. Passing through a village, in one of his roving 

 walks, he espied one of those half-baked, half -nursed raga- 

 muffins, a specimen of whom about one parish in every six 

 affords, unmercifully beating a defenceless orplian not much 

 more than half his own size. The chivalrous spirit of our 

 hero would not brook this ; so, throwing down liis hat, he 

 gave him 'a chattering facer,' the terui, as liis preceptor 

 Jem informed him, for a heavy tlunnp on the mouth, and 

 instant!}' put himself ' into attitude.' Raganmffin did the 



17 B 



