194 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



correct ansAver is " No !" It is then permissible 

 to drop a shilling into the female's open palm, 

 to hurry past the oars and the elephant's foot, 

 and so out into the comparatively fresh air of 

 the street. 



No regular house- hunter can fail to be struck 

 by the strange passion for christening one's 

 residence by some fantastic name, which becomes 

 more accentuated the farther one gets away 

 from the centre of the metropolis. The owner 

 of No. 100, Berkeley Square, would never dream 

 of calling his house "Holly Villa" or "Ka- 

 poota "; you may walk up and down Park Lane 

 for hours mthout finding a single " Mayhurst," 

 a " Hill Crest," or a " Pondicherry Lodge"; and 

 I have searched Eaton Place and Grosvenor 

 Gardens in vain for any sign of an " Albion 

 Cottage," a " Dunedin," or even an " Evers- 

 leigh." But beyond the four-mile radius every 

 householder seems to compete with his neigh- 

 bour in the invention of subtle and suggestive 

 names to paint upon his doorposts. " Fern- 

 dale " jostles against " Belmont," and " Ocean 

 View " gazes gloomily cross the noisy street to 

 " Mon Repos " opposite. In this fashion does 

 man's pathetic attempt to stamp his humble 

 possessions with his own individuality express 

 itself, and perhaps the sense of human happiness 

 is increased by the possibility of thus investing 



