THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 163 



<( I am sorry to thwart the wishes of either yourself or 

 my uncle," resumed our hero ; " but, upon my word, I do 

 not see the use of my incurring such an expense. Besides, 

 in what shall I be better for visiting foreign countries, 

 when I cannot talk or understand the language of them. 

 You know Doctor Johnson has put it in black and white 

 that he never met with a man who could talk a whit 

 the better for having been abroad ; and as for writing 

 the better for it, I do not suppose my scribbling propensities 

 will ever exceed a few short epistles to my friends. At 

 the same time, if yourself and my uncle pa rticularly wish 

 that I should travel, I am ready, though I cannot say 

 willing, to make the required sacrifice." 



" We will drop the subject," said the father ; " I will 

 never ask a son of mine to do that which I perceive he 

 is really averse to ; neither is it a point so near to my 

 heart as to that of your Uncle Beaumont, for reasons 

 which I have heard him give. I confess, my chief desire 

 is, that you should learn to fulfil the duties of a country 

 gentleman and large landed proprietor not a few, I 

 assure you and for which, perhaps, England may, after 

 all, prove the best school. But, Francis, what is all this 

 I have heard from Lady Charlotte to-day about your 

 going to keep race-horses." 



" Why, sir," replied our hero, somewhat taken aback ; 

 " I am very fond, as you know, of the animal, horse, and 

 have noticed the great pleasure my friend Dauntley takes 

 in breeding. I was just asking Robson yesterday, as I 

 was walking with him in the park, what lie thought 

 would be the expense of a few paddocks for the purpose ; 

 and likewise, if you did not object, what part of the park 

 would be the fittest, at the same time not within sight 

 from the house." 



" Paddocks in the park, my dear Frank ! " exclaimed 

 Mr. Raby ; " I cannot consent to anything of the sort. I 

 should be sorry to see the pastoral character of this fine 

 park defiled by a parcel of fiery-red brick walls. Then 

 you quote your friend Dauntley as a precedent for this 

 frolic of yours ! You must bear in mind that Dauntley 

 has twice as many thousands a year as you have hundreds, 

 and perhaps you have no idea of the expense of a breed- 

 ing stud on ever so small a scale. I am told that the 

 annual expense of a mare, including her produce, exceeds 

 a hundred pounds, saying nothing of the chapter of 



