MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 



17 C J 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



'UK FINEST RUN THAT EVER WAS SEEN ! 



—RAY, Jack ! Hoo— 

 ray ! " exclaimed 

 iOrd Scaraperdale, 

 mrsting into his 

 anctum, where Mr. 

 Spraggon sat 

 in his hunting 

 coat and slip- 

 pers, spelling 

 As. 'vVv\ I»hI^ SSkMIuP" away at a 



' WM m£ second - hand 



copy of Bell's 

 L ife by the 

 light of a me- 

 lancholy mould 

 candle. " Hoo- 

 ray, Jack ! hoo- 

 ray ! ■" repeated 

 he, waving tha' 

 proud trophy, 

 a splendid fox's 

 brush, over his 

 grizzly head. 



His lordship 

 was the picture 

 of delight. He 

 had had a 

 tremendous run — the finest run that ever was seen ! His hounds 

 had behaved to perfection ; his horse— though he had downed 

 him three times — had carried him well, and his lordship stood 

 with his crownless flat hat in his hand, and ono coat lap in the 

 pocket of the other — a grinning, exulting, self-satisfied specimen 

 of a happy Englishman. 



" Lor ! what a sight you are ! " observed Jack, turning the 

 light of the candle upon his lordship's dirty person. " Why, I 

 declare you're an inch thick with mud," he added : " mud from 

 head to foot," he continued, working the light up and down. 



"Never mind the mud, you old badger ! " roared his lordship, 

 still waving the brush over his head : " never mind the mud, you 



N 2 



