66 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



out of sight in an instant. On my coming to the 

 spot, the old man was apostrophising "madmen" 

 in o-eneral, and usin"^ a favourite word of his own 

 manufacture, which always did duty for an oath: 

 " Tarnation seize the warmint ! if I only knew what 

 feller that was, I'd sarve him out, that I would." 

 Havino; said all I could that was civil to him, I also 

 proceeded on my way into Heston Field. George 

 Passingham rejoined us ere long, and, on my asking 

 him whv on earth lie had charired the old man, and 

 risked killing him, he replied, using a favourite 

 expression of his, " Charged him, my eye ! kill him, 

 no, no ; I knowed there was no chance of that. Ha ! 

 ha ! ha ! didn't the governor cut into the ditch ! My 

 eye ! t'was the only way to do it, to put him into such 

 a tarnation funk that he wouldn't recognise me! 

 He don't like my hunting on market days, mun -," and 

 as I ought to have been at Brentford, 'twouldn't do 

 for the guv'nor to see me here along with you." 



Poor young Passingham! he, I believe Avithout in- 

 tending it, was very obtrusive and pert in his man- 

 ners ; and one day, addressing Captain Hammersley, 

 who was hunting with us from Hounslow Bar- 

 racks, on his nice little brown horse Claret, he said, 

 " My eye ! Hammersley, you've been in the dirt and 

 ahnost scratched your nose off." To this the Captain 

 haughtily replied in strong Hibernian accent, " By 

 Jasus, Mistre Passingham, I never allow any won to 

 spake familiarly to me, who has not been properly 

 introduced." 



Passingham said nothing at the time, but he 

 bottled up the fierce reproof for a future occasion, 

 and I believe thought of it and dreamed of it for 

 weeks. The future day at length came, and intently 



