132 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 



an' they'll be blamin' me," when I rolled off. 

 When the boys came home from school he ex- 

 pressed a wish to be allowed to valet them. 



Pohshed and shining he looked after the things 

 with a new air of dignity upon him. I remember 

 quite well the shrieks of laughter one morning, 

 when the bath having to be mended he had to 

 take baths to their room. 



One asked for a cold bath and one for a hot one, 

 and Peter went forth obediently to return with 

 one large bath-can which he dumped upon the 

 floor, with a " Here it's for ye now, Masther Frank 

 and Masther Arthur, hot an' cowld in the wan 



jug." 



He had carefully filled half from each tap. 



One brother used brilliantine for his hair, and 

 it was Peter, cast into gloom by suspicion of taking 

 it for his own use, who nearly drove the kitchen 

 maid into an asylum. 



For Peter suspecting her, conceived the brilliant 

 idea of filHng the bottle with copal varnish, and 

 the varnished maiden behind her wails and tears 

 took some three weeks to become unstiffened. 



It was Peter, who when the housemaid picked 

 up a loaded revolver, left at full cock by my 

 criminally careless elder brother . . . and it went 

 off — the bullet grazing the old nurse's ear in the 

 next room, Peter remarked, he happened to be 

 going up with boots — 



** She has the gun let off. I towlt her there was 



