SPRING AND WINTER PASTIMES 189 



accidentally tore three leaves off one of the 

 fifteen " Robert Burns Calenders " which well- 

 meaning relatives had pressed into my reluctant 

 hand at Christmas, and on the leaf thus exposed 

 to view read the following: 



'' April 12. Feast of St. Thaddeus. House- 

 Hunting Begins. ' There's nae luck aboot the 

 hoose.' " 



Thoughts of many a happy house-hunt of the 

 past came rushing to my mind, bearing in their 

 train a flood of fragrant memories. Once again 

 I was an irresponsible young man with no in- 

 tention of leasing (still less of purchasing) a 

 " commodious West End family residence," and 

 yet hastening from square to square, from 

 avenue to terrace, armed with '' orders to view " 

 innumerable " mansions " in the most fashion- 

 able parts of the metropolis, buoyed up by the 

 determination to probe the secrets that lie hid 

 behind the chill facades of Park Lane and Gros- 

 venor Square, to discover once and for all 

 '' How the Other Half Lives." 



Since those days I have been occasionally 

 compelled to engage more seriously in the pur- 

 suit of practical house-hunting, and though the 

 pleasures of the chase are sensibly tempered by 

 its disappointments, I can thoroughly recom- 

 mend the sport to persons of leisure who find the 

 time hang heavy on their hands. 



