78 AN ANGLERS BASKET 



that he gave the pipes away. So we settled it amicably ; 

 but you see the trouble that came through my interference 

 with his fishing. 



Well, since I wrote to you last, Frank has had what he 

 called an angling party, and they smoked to such an extent 

 that I cannot, do what I will, get the smell of stale tobacco 

 out of the curtains and carpets. What they drank I have 

 never been able to make out. Before his guests arrived (of 

 course it was a bachelor's affair) he told me they would 

 drink nothing but cold tea, and cook was brewing tea in the 

 kitchen for hours before the time fixed for the commencement 

 of what I annoyed him very much by calling a debauch ; 

 though how they contrived to get so uproariously merry on 

 such a nauseous beverage completely puzzles me. But 

 that is not all ; at least three quarts of cold tea were sent 

 up to them, and nearly, if not quite, all of it came down 

 again next morning. They appear to have turned some of 

 it into an ordinary sherry bottle before consuming it, Frank 

 says entirely as a matter of fancy; but, I must confess, 

 there was a very curious odour in all the tumblers, and what 

 they wanted so many jugs of hot and cold water for I have 

 not been able to make out, as I was rigidly excluded from 

 any participation in the entertainment. On the bottle into 

 which they appear to have poured the tea was a label, 

 which, I must say, seemed to have been prepared by one of 

 the party, and the following is a copy : 



<C O L D TEA, 



As prepared expressly for the use of Anglers 



BY 



DIDDLE BROTHERS, 

 KEIGHLEY.' 



