'A DINNER FOR THREE.' 227 



who, in turf phraseology, could ' carry him.' His 

 father paid his debts for him once or twice — in fact, 

 until he could do so no longer ; and this was the 

 cause of old Mr. Wreford's ruin. The son, when too 

 late, was put under restraint, and did not live long. 

 The father, on the other hand, lived to a good old 

 age. 



Mr. Wreford was a very fine strong man, and re- 

 ported in his younger days to have been the possessor of 

 an enormous appetite. He once called at the Gloster 

 Coffee House, Piccadilly, now the St. James's Hotel, 

 and ordered dinner for three. At the appointed time 

 he turned up himself, and on inquiring for his friends, 

 was told they had not arrived. He said he would 

 not wait, and commenced. Not perhaps having been 

 brought up in the most refined society, he was one 

 who studied comfort more than appearances. After 

 partaking of the various dishes as they came up with 

 each successive course, he at last came to what he 

 had specially ordered — a goose, a dish of which of all 

 things he was most fond. This he attacked, in the 

 brief absence of the waiter for a few minutes, disdain- 

 ing to use the plate which had been placed for him, 

 but grappling with the bird in the dish itself ; and, 

 as he got through it, throwing the bones over his 

 shoulder into the fireplace behind him. To his 

 astonishment, when the waiter returned, he found the 

 goose had almost disappeared, without the usual 

 fragmentary relics, which had been disposed of as I 



15—2 



