100 TALES AND TRAITS OF SPORTING LIFE. 



*' the Assassin," witli all the daring* courag-e of yoiitli and 

 genius, started such a collar for a coat as set the heef- 

 eating, short-necked yeomen of Berks half wild with envy 

 and despair of imitation. When her pretty little lad}^- 

 ship treated you to a glim]»se of her pretty little foot, and 

 an inch or so of ankle that the classic sandal clung so 

 lovingly around. When the Marchioness Maria raised 

 her glass and waved her long ringlets in the summer 

 hreeze, to the admiration of all beholders, but evidently to 

 none more so than the dark dandy at her elbow. When 

 the Master of the Buckhounds proclaimed himself, as he 

 passed you, by the silver emblem of his order ; and Davis 

 seeming-, as it were, to bear the very impress of royalty 

 about him, turned the head of his chesnut thorough-bred, 

 and rode back side-by-side with Robinson, who has just 

 saddled for the Swinley. And in the midst of all these — 

 the royal liveries, the Windsor uniforms, the gauzy 

 dresses, the smart bonnets, and the bright eyes flashing- 

 from out of them — from the very horse you are backing- 

 even, you turn for another look at that strange-looking- 

 man. What a slang, defiant, and yet somehow thorough 

 sportsman's air there is about him ! What a deal of 

 devil in his eye, and a life's story, surely, in his very walk 

 and bearing- ! The careless cock of his battered white hat 

 is of itself all *' character," supported, as this is, b}' the 

 wisp tie of his crimson bandana, the half-open striped 

 waistcoat, and the loose cut of his brass-buttoned brown 

 coat, with another fogle flying from the pocket of it. 

 Then his drab breeches and g-aiters are almost equally de- 

 cisive, even if not emphasised, as the}^ are, by the latter 

 being studiously pulled down at the back, to show some 

 inches of a pink silk stocking. Mark, again, the big 

 brooch in his shirt, the purple jacket in his hand, and the 



