ALKEN'S ILLUSTRATIONS. 



able hero in a nightcap. Whilst lying out on the 

 ice at night, stalking flocks of wild ducks, Mytton, 

 in addition to his single garment, a shirt, is pictured 

 adorned with a nightcap, and a similar covering 

 appears on his head when setting fire to the aforesaid 

 solitary garment in the plate, showing that mistaken 

 worthy carrying out his novel theory of frightening 



away that " d d hiccup ! " Subsequent knowledge 



that Mytton was unfamiliar with the use of pocket- 

 handkerchiefs and of nightcaps alike, possibly induced 

 the artist to make alterations, and to remove the 

 nightcaps. In the first version of the fatal " hiccup" 

 adventure, an antique "four-poster" is represented 

 in the background ; as this tragic incident occurred 

 in France, whither the embarrassed and unfortunate 

 Mytton, who was " broken " in a triple sense — in 

 mind, body, and purse — had sought refuge from his 

 creditors, the antiquated "four-poster" figuring in the 

 earlier plate was, in the second edition, changed into a 

 French bedstead, as a concession to local consistency. 

 The frontispiece to the second edition and sub- 

 sequent issues is : — ■ 



" Well done, Neck-or-Nothing ! You are not a bad one to breed 

 from," as designed after a sketch by T. J. Rawlins, drawn and executed 

 by Henry Aiken. 



