204 MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 



smoke that he was obliged to put out the fire, notwithstanding 

 the weather was cold, indeed inclining to frost. He lit his cigar 

 notwithstanding ; and, as he indulged in it, he ran all the circum- 

 stances of his situation through his mind. His pressing invitation 

 — his magnificent reception — the attention of the ladies — and now 

 the sudden change everything had taken He couldn't make it 

 out, somehow ; but the consequences were plain enough. "The 

 fellow's a humbug," at length said he, throwing the cigar-end 

 away, and turning into bed, when the information Watson the 

 keeper gave him, on arriving recurred to his mind, and he was 

 satisfied that Jawleyford was a humbug. It was clear Mr. Sponge 

 had made a mistake in coming ; the best thing he could do now 

 was to back out, and see if the fair Amelia would take it to heart. 

 In the midst of his cogitations Mr. Puffington's pressing invitation 

 occurred to his mind, and it appeared to be the very thing for 

 him, affording him an immediate asylum within reach of the fair 

 lady, should she be likely to die. 



Next day he wrote to volunteer a visit. 



Mr. Puffington, who was still in ignorance of our friend's real 

 character, and still believed him to be a second " Nimrod " out on 

 a " tour," was overjoyed at his letter ; and, strange to relate, the 

 same post that brought his answer jumping at the proposal, 

 brought a letter from Lord Scamperdale to Jawleyford, saying 

 that, " as soon as Jawleyford was quite alone (scored under) he 

 would like to pay him a visit." His lordship, we should inform 

 the reader, notwithstanding his recent mishap, still held out 

 against Jack Spraggon's recommendation to get rid of Mr. Sponge 

 by buying his horses, and he determined to try this experiment 

 first. His lordship thought at one time of entering into an 

 explanation, telling Mr. Jawleyford the damage Sponge had done 

 him, and the nuisance he was entailing upon him by harbouring 

 him ; but not being a great scholar, and several hard words turn- 

 ing up that his lordship could not well clear in the spelling, he 

 just confined himself to a laconic ; which as it turned out, was a 

 most fortunate course. Indeed, he had another difficulty besides 

 the spelling, for the hounds having as usual had a great run after 

 Mr. Sponge had floored him — knocked his right eye into the heel 

 of his left boot, as he said — in the course of which run his lord- 

 ship's horse had rolled over him on a road, he was like the railway 

 people — unable to distinguish between capital and income — unable 

 to say which were Sponge's bangs and which his own ; so, like a 

 hard cricket-ball sort of a man as he was, he just pocketed all, and 

 wrote as we have described. 



His lordship's and Mr. Puffington's letters diffused joy into a 

 house that seemed likely to be distracted with trouble. 



So then endeth our thirtieth chapter, and a very pleasant ending 



