102 BY MEADOW AND STREAM. 



under a pot. May your daughters be as the tender 

 vines clinging round your hearts ; may your sons be 

 stalwart, affectionate, honest, and truthful ; may you 

 all eat your Christmas pudding with moderation and 

 thankfulness ; and, finally, may you sometimes have 

 tight lines and full creels when you go a-fishing. I 

 say sometimes advisedly ; if you were sure your creels 

 would always be filled the excitement and pleasure 

 would pall upon you, and you would be deprived of 

 such Elysian delights as those which befell the accom- 

 plished Major and the famous " Sarcelle " on the occa- 

 sion I have endeavoured to describe. 



I write these lines from my solitary eyrie on the top 

 of the northern heights of London. 



