180 MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 



old badger ; the mud'll come off, or may stay on ; but such a run 

 as we've had does not come off every day." 



" Well, I'm glad you have had a run," replied Jack. " I'm 

 glad you have had a run ; " adding, " I was afraid at one time 

 that your day's sport was spoiled." 



" Well, do you know," replied his lordship, " when I saw that 

 unrighteous snob, I was near sick. If it were possible for a man 

 to faint, I should have thought I was going to do so. At first I 

 thought of going home, taking the hounds away too ; then I 

 thought of going myself and leaving the hounds ; then I thought 

 if I left the hounds it would only make the sinful scaramouch 

 more outrageous, and I should be sitting on pins and needles till 

 they came home, thinking how he was crashing among them. 

 Next I thought of drawing all the unlikely places in the country, 

 and making a blank day of it. Then I thought that would only 

 be like cutting off my nose to spite my face. Then I didn't 

 know what on earth to do. At last, when I saw the critter's 

 great pecker steadily down in his plate, I thought I would try 

 and steal a march upon him, and get away with my fox while 

 he was feeding ; and, oh ! how thankful I was when I looked 

 back from Bramblebrake Hill, and saw no signs of him in the 

 distance." 



" It wasn't likely you'd see him," interrupted Jack, " for he 

 never got away from the front door. I twigged what you were 

 after, and kept him up in talk about his horses and his ridin' till I 

 saw you were fairly away." 



" You did well," exclaimed Lord Scamperdale, patting Jack on 

 the back ; " you did well, my old buck-o'-wax ; and, by Jove ! 

 we'll have a bottle of port — a bottle of port, as I live," repeated 

 his lordship, as if he had made up his mind to do a most magnifi- 

 cent act. 



" But what's happened you behind ! — what's happened you 

 behind ? " asked Jack, as his lordship turned to the fire, and 

 exhibited his docked tail. 



" Oh, hang the coat ! —it's neither here nor there," replied his 

 lordship ; — " hat neither," he added, exhibiting its crushed pro- 

 portions. "Old Blossomnose did the coat ; and as to the hat, I 

 did it myself — at least, old Daddy Longlegs and I did it between 

 us. We got into a grass-field, of which they had cut a few roods 

 of fence, just enough to tempt a man out of a very deep lane, and 

 away we sailed, in the enjoyment of fine sound sward, with the 

 rest of the field plunging and floundering, and holding and 

 grinning, and thinking what fools they were for not following my 

 example, — when, lo and behold ! I got to the bottom of the field, 

 and found there was no way out ; — no chance of a bore through 

 the great thick, high hedge, except at a branchy willow, where 



