214 Reminiscences of 



of the feast. The one beside you, rising in place, turns 

 away from you toward the one beyond him, receiving the 

 cup, from which he sips and turns facing you smoothing 

 over the cup edge with his napkin; you, standing, re- 

 ceive it and drink from, and in the same manner pass 

 it on to your neighbor. The time has arrived for 

 coffee and cigars, and the regular toasts are given in 

 order : 



To Her Majesty the Queen. 



To the Army. 



To the Navy. 



To distinguished guests. 



To foreign visitors. 



To municipal magnates and others. 



It was on one of these occasions in Jubilee year 

 that I was pulled into an anxious box, so suddenly and 

 unexpectedly that I made a very awkward appearance. 

 The one who was to respond to the toast of foreign 

 visitors was unaccountably absent, and a pause oc- 

 curred until the fact was evinced. The Worthy War- 

 den, whose guest I was, and whom I had supposed a 

 friend of mine, abruptly announced in calling my name 

 that I would respond to the toast in the absence of the 

 first party. It was a staggering blow, for which I was 

 in no way prepared, and if I had received any intima- 

 tion of it, I was hardly in the condition for a mental 

 exertion; for an early lunch and a delayed dinner had 

 given an edge to my appetite difficult to hold, and I 

 had eaten far more than was my usual habit and, al- 

 though moderately abstemious in drinking, some mis- 

 guided friends about me, with mistaken hospitality, 

 had taken advantage of my obliging disposition to ply 

 me with various creations of which I had been ignorant 



