AT THE FAIR. 



upon conversational compulsion for an hour, 

 this is not a proof of an irritable disposition. 



I saunter moodily towards the back of the 

 house, and come upon the high road. A 

 gipsy cart goes by, and in its wake three 

 acrobats, with greasy coats, which flap aside, 

 and reveal the tight fleshings that expose 

 rather than cover their limbs. 



I had forgotten that there was a pleasure fair 

 to be held beyond Lewin Park ; I can return 

 afterwards by train. Why not walk there, if 

 only for the sake of a couple of hours' distrac- 

 tion ? In a few minutes I am striking out a 

 short cut for the fair, and marching stoutly 

 under the trees of the park. I reach the crest 

 of a hillock, and meet a very small boy, in an 

 enormous pair of breeks, weeping as if his heart 

 would break, by the trunk of an oak. 



The breeks came up to the chin of the little 

 man, and served him for a waistcoat ; his dirty 

 russet-apple-coloured cheeks loomed over the 

 rim of the ill-proportioned garments, while 

 he dug his fists into his eyes, and roared as 

 loudly as if he knew there was some one to 

 listen to him. He seems frightened at my 



