42 THE SPORTING WORLD. 



short, "what we did." While to the ladies he 

 is as much *' au fait" on subjects that he knows 

 are pleasing to them as any man in the room ; 

 nay, informs any of them who have not seen 

 the last arrived paper, as he had probably done 

 at breakfast, of the (to them) important fact 

 that on a certain occasion the Queen wore a 

 drawn silk bonnet with a mantilla of some 

 commodity which they perfectly understand, but 

 the name of which he, to their infinite amuse- 

 ment, sadly mutilates. Dinner ended and the 

 ladies retired, he ventures a little on subjects 

 forbidden as a matter of course in their presence, 

 the bottle passes cheerfully and quickly round, 

 for as foxhunting is not now the business of an 

 unlimited number of hours, neither is sitting at 

 table. Music for the young, whist for the middle 

 aged and old, with probably a chess table for 

 the more studious minded, show that foxhunters 

 know how things should be done in their houses 

 far better than did their ancestors, and sooth 



