THE HAUGHTY SHIRE HUNT. 131 



am recall to my own country, and shall be oblige to — to — vat 

 you call to " 



" Stepitoff, eh ? " suggested Jack Dasliwood hi an audible 

 whisper. 



" rctownez, ver' soonqueekly, but I shall alway remem- 



bare ze honour that I have do to you, zis night, in return ze 

 zanksof ze ladies. I zank you all also for ze ver' pleasant way you 

 'ave receive me at zis so filling a supper, and champagnes which 

 must not be drinked too ver' much, or we shall fall from ze 

 bottom of ze stairs to ze top ! " and amid more plaudits and 

 considerable laughter, Monsieur le Baron, who had quite 

 recovered his equanimit}^, resumed his seat. 



Travers had been enjoying himself greatly during the latter 



part of the evening, with the elder daughter of Sir Toodle 



Lumpkin. He was not very clear in his own mind as to who 



had introduced him, but rather thought it was Eonald 



Dennison. He took the young lady into supper and afterwards 



obtained an introduction to her mamma and papa. Sir Toodle 



was an amiable gentleman, who beamed upon the world at 



large through gold-rimmed spectacles, and was always writing 



books which nobody read. Lady Lumpkin was a massive and 



somewhat commanding personage, but her three daughters — 



all unappropriated blessings — did not take after her. They 



were not good-looking, and the elder (Travers's friend) was 



one of those naturally combative persons who always make 



a point of differing, either playfully or in earnest, from 



everything you say, a habit which usually reduces the average 



man to silence in the first instance, and a lunatic asjdum 



in the second. Binkie, however, found her charming — he 



didn't know much of her, you see. 



K 2 



