138 LEAVES FKOM A GAME BOOK. 



After taking a brace of fine trout, all doubts as to 

 whether this charming mannered man was a guest at 

 Tillingbourne were at once dispelled when he looked 

 smilingly at me, while saying, ** Dear Bonnor told me 

 he had put a couple of bottles of champagne in ice, 

 so we must not keep luncheon waiting " — an announce 

 ment which, on that blazing hot June day, was not 

 wholly unwelcome. 



Now, at the entrance to Tillingbourne there was 

 a fine marble bust of some ancient Greek hero ; I 

 forget who it represented, but around it was a long 

 inscription in Greek characters. Now, from my earliest 

 school-days, this was a language which had ever been 

 a fatal one to me ; and thus, in later times, I had 

 been too happy to bury all remnants of Greek in 

 the more congenial study of the French, German, and 

 Italian languages. Not liking, however, to confess my 

 ignorance, I had always hitherto passed this bust with a 

 look which was equivalent to saying, "Of course, I know 

 all about you, and could easily translate the rigmarole 

 that surrounds you if I chose ! " Many other fellows 



