XIX. 

 HUNTINGCROP HALL: 



A TALE OF TRIUMPHANT ADVENTURE. 



" Reputation ! Reputation ! oh, I have lost my reputa- 

 tion ! " It was, I believe, one Michael Cassio, a Floren- 

 tine, who originally made the remark ; and I can only 

 say I sincerely wish I were in Michael Cassio's position, 

 and could lose mine. It may be a " bubble," this same 

 reputation ; indeed, we have high authority for so term- 

 ing it ; but "bubble " rhymes with " trouble," and that is 

 the condition to which such a reputation as mine is apt 

 to bring you ; for it supposes me to be a regular Nimrod, 

 whereas I know about as much of the science of the 

 chase as my suppositious prototype probably knew of 

 ballooning ; it sets me down as being " at home in the 

 saddle," whereas it is there that I am, if I may be 

 allowed the expression, utterly at sea. 



When, last November, I was seated before a blazing 

 fire in Major Huntingcrop's town house, and his too 

 charming daughter, Laura, expressed her enthusiastic 

 admiration for hunting and everything connected with 

 it — mildly at the same time hinting her contempt for 



