176 MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 



to drink to the ladies, couple the toast with the name of Mrs. 

 Dickinson, who is sitting at my right hand." Such a chorus 

 of voices arose as the male members of the company drank 

 the toast standing, that Mrs. Dickinson, for the moment, 

 felt her usual confidence desert her; perhaps it was the 

 champagne which Jack had insidiously supplied that made 

 things look unsteady. Her mind appeared to be a blank 

 until Jack whispered with a solemn face, " Now's your time, 

 give it 'em hot ; they will take a lot of convincing ". 



Then Mrs. Dickinson rose upon what, momentarily, seemed 

 to be someone else's legs. The sound of her own voice, 

 which she loved, albeit the tones were not quite familiar, 

 together with an aside from Jack to " go it," restored her 

 confidence, notwithstanding the fact that Lady Flora oppo- 

 site, who scented trouble, leant back in her chair and regarded 

 the speaker through the pair of glasses on the nine-inch 

 handle which she reserved for such occasions. Perhaps 

 nothing puts people on such good terms with themselves as 

 a round of applause ; we are told that it is the absence of 

 this which makes agitators such failures in the House of 

 Commons. However that may be, Mrs. Dickinson felt such 

 a sense of superiority, owing to the cheers which greeted her 

 opening words of thanks (and perhaps the champagne), that 

 the spirit of antagonism rose within her. It would probably 

 be a very mild sort of a world, the world of debate, if this 

 sentiment were absent. Whether Mrs. Dickinson displayed 

 wisdom in casting a firebrand into the midst of an otherwise 

 enthusiastic and well-contented gathering, simply for the 

 purpose of creating an explosion, is another matter. 



" I am sorely at a loss," she said, when she had duly 

 thanked the company, " to account for so much enthusiasm 

 being displayed, as it has been to-day, over such an un- 

 worthy and cruel object as the pursuit and death of one little 

 animal — a fox." The open mouths, the quick gasps of 

 astonishment, and withal the sudden deathly stillness which 

 followed, were sufficient to damp the ardour of the bravest 

 orator. Jack Morgan's " That's right, don't be afraid ; jump 



