.1/7.'. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 



129 



to see "how thick Jawleyford was with my lord." Old 

 Blossomnose, who, we should observe, had slipped 

 unperceived on Jawleyford's arrival, took a bird's-eye view 

 the rear. Naughty Blossom was riding the horse that ought to 

 have gone in the " chay " to Jawleyford Court. 



away 

 from 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 



THE GREAT RU>". 



' : ^:mm ;: i 



HIS LOItBSHIP HAS IT ALL TO HIMSELF. 



Our hero having inveigled the brown under lee of an out- 

 house as the field moved along, was fortunate enough to achieve 

 the saddle without disclosing the secrets of the stable ; and as he 

 rejoined the throng in all the pride of shape, action, and con- 

 dition, even the top-sawyers, Fossick, Fyle, Bliss, and others, 

 admitted that Hercules was not a bad-like horse ; while the 

 humbler-minded ones eyed Sponge with a mixture of awe and 

 envy, thinking what a fine trade literature must be to stand such 

 a horse. 



" Is your friend "What's-his-name, a workman ? " asked Lord 

 Scamperdale, nodding towards Sponge as he trotted Hercules 

 gently past on the turf by the side of the road along which they 

 ■were ridimr. 



