396 



ME. SPONGE'S SPOUTING TOUR 



CHAPTER LIV. 



BILLIARDS FA.CEY. 



NONSUCH HOUSE AGAIN. 



THE gallant inmates of Nonsuch House 

 had resolved themselves into a com- 

 mittee of speculation, as to whether Mr. 

 ►Sponge was coming or not ; indeed, 

 they had been betting upon it, the odds 

 at first being a hundred to one that he 

 came, though they had fallen a point 

 or two on the arrival of the post with- 

 out an answer. 



" Well, I say Mr. What-dy'e-call-him 

 — Sponge — doesn't come ! " exclaimed 

 Captain Seedeybuck, ashe lay full length, 

 with his shaggy greasy head on the fine 

 rose-coloured satin sofa, and his legs 

 cocked over the cushion. 



" Why not ? " asked Miss Glitters, 

 who was beguiling the twilight half- 

 hour before candles with knitting. 



" Don't know," replied Seedeybuck, 

 " don't know — have a presentiment he 



twirling his moustache, 

 won't.''' 



" Sure to come ! " exclaimed Captain Bouncey, knocking the 

 ashes off his cigar on to the fine Tournay carpet, "I'll lay ten to 

 one — ten fifties to one — he does, — a thousand to ten if you like." 

 If all the purses in the house had been clubbed together, we don't 

 believe they would have raised fifty pounds. 



"What sort of a looking man is he ? " asked Miss Glitters, now 

 counting her loops. 



"Oh — whoy — ha — hem — haw — he's just an ordinary sort of 

 lookin' man — nothin' 'tickler any w r ay," drawled Captain Seedey- 

 buck, now wetting and twirling his moustache. 



" Two legs, a head, a back, and so on, I presume," observed the 

 lady. 



" Just so," assented Captain Seedeybuck. 



" He's a horsey lookin' sort o' man, I should say," observed 

 Captain Bouncey, " walks as if he ought to be ridin' — wears 

 vinegar tops." 



" Hate vinegar tops," growled Seedeybuck. 



Just then, in came Lady Scattercash, attended by Mr. Orlando 

 Bugles, the ladies' attractions having caused that distinguished 



