14 THE HUNTING FIELD 



morning ; " more port — two bottles this time. — Observations. 

 Party merry ; Pigskin half-cocked ; Sam Bore'em nodding ; 

 host speaking thick. 



Nine o'clock. — "Chair! chair!" Host proposes " Master's 

 health" again, assuring him that Fleecy Hall covers shall never 

 be drawn blank ; amendment by Pigskin, "That the toast be 

 drunk with three times three ; carried «««.cti«. / drunk; moved 

 by Tom Lax, and "one cheer more" given; port and claret 

 — 2 and I. — Observations. Party noisy; room hot; gentle- 

 men's waistcoats loose. 



Quarter-past Nine. — Alaster returns thanks again ; pro- 

 poses a bumper toast ; no heel-taps ; " The Ladies ! " three 

 times three, and one, &c. — Observations. \'ery merry; Pigskin 

 three parts drunk ; Master half-cocked ; Sam Bore'em asleep. 



Let us now suppose it half-past nine, and that Mrs. Cotton- 

 wool and daughters, having got themselves cooled, have lit 

 their "Brecknell and Turners'," shaken out their feathers, and 

 taken positions best calculated for capturing their respective 

 prey as they enter the drawing-room. And here we may pay 

 the "deferred " annuity of information we promised our fair 

 friends, as they left the dining-room. It is this : — A man is 

 much easier come over when half-mellow than when half-fed. 

 We observed, with sorrow, not altogether unmingled with anger, 

 that you pestered your next door neighbours with your 

 pleasantries when they had their mouths full. Nay, we caught 

 Robertina interrupting hers in the middle of a glass of cham- 

 pagne ! All this is very wrong. Our Master will tell you that 

 he never speaks to his hounds so long as they will hunt. So 

 j-ou, on your parts, should never speak to a foxhunter so long 

 as he will feed. It is all very well for you ladies who dine at 

 luncheon time to trifle with the golden moments of dinner, but 

 it is serious work with a half-famished sportsman, especially 

 with the pace nervous servants of all work go on these occasions. 



