202 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



a final ^nll and testament, is one of those things 

 which human beings are universally disposed to 

 defer to the last possible moment. Like that visit 

 to the dentist which we have so long intended to 

 pay, and so long postponed, it is a duty which we 

 put ofi semi-consciously from day to day, until 

 suddenly the Feast of Gifts is at hand and we 

 find ourselves wholly unprepared for its fitting 

 celebration. Then follows that terrible scramble 

 for presents, that seething turmoil of frenzied 

 customers and harassed shop assistants, from 

 which we issue, bruised but triumphant, with 

 our hands full of gilt photograph frames, our 

 pocjcets bulging mth aluminium cigar-lighters, 

 an anthology of amorous verse under each arm, 

 and a copy of the Puce Fairy Book grasped 

 firmly between our teeth. 



Alone to those who appreciate the delights of 

 American football does shopping of this stren- 

 uous order appeal with any degree of pleasure; 

 only for the young and active purchaser can one 

 crowded hour of such glorious strife be worth 

 an age of more leisurely marketing. 



" One must be poor," says George Eliot, " to 

 know the luxury of giving;" but one must be 

 rich to be able to afford such a luxury, though 

 it is always possible for the wealthiest, by con- 

 stant practice, to become sufficiently poor to 

 appreciate it. Christmas is par excellence the 



