270 MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 



have said snob if he'd thought it would be safe,) asked Pacey, as 

 Sponge returned to still life after the first wine ceremony. 



" No," replied Spraggon, " nor do I wish." 



" Great snob," observed Pacey. 



" Shocking," assented Spraggon. 



" He's got a good horse or two, though," observed Pacey ; " I 

 saw them on the road coming here the other day." Pacey, like 

 many youngsters, professed to be a judge of horses, and thought 

 himself rather sharp at a deal. 



" They are good horses," replied Jack, with an emphasis on the 

 good ; adding, " I'd be very glad to have one of them." 



Mr. Spraggon then asked Mr. Pacey to take champagne, as the 

 commencement of a better understanding. 



The wine flowed freely, and the guests, particularly the fresh 

 infusion, did ample justice to it. The guests of the day before, 

 having indulged somewhat freely, were more moderate at first, 

 though they seemed well inclined to do their best after they got 

 their stomachs a little restored. Spraggon could drink any given 

 quantity at any time. 



The conversation got brisker and brisker : and before the cloth 

 was drawn there was a very general clamour, in which all sorts of 

 subjects seemed to be mixed, — each man addressing himself to his 

 immediate neighbour ; one talking of taxes, — another of tares, — 

 a third, of hunting and the system of kennel, — a fourth, of the 

 corn-laws, — old Blossomnose, about tithes, — Slapp, about timber 

 and water-jumping, — Miller, about Collison's pills; and Guano, 

 about anything that he could get a word edged in about. Great, 

 indeed, was the hubbub. Gradually, however, as the evening 

 advanced Pacey and Guano out-talked the rest, and at length 

 Pacey got the noise pretty well to himself. When anything 

 definite could be extracted from the mass of confusion, he was ex- 

 patiating on steeple-chasing, hurdle-racing, weights for age, ons and 

 offs clever — a sort of mixture of hunting, racing, and " Aiken." 



Sponge cocked his ear, and sat on the watch, occasionally haz- 

 arding an observation, while Jack, who was next Pacey, on the 

 left, pretended to decry Sponge's judgment, asking sotto voce, with 

 a whiff through his nose, what such a cockney as that could know 

 about horses ? What between Jack's encouragement, and the 

 inspiring influence of the bottle, aided by his own self-sufficiency, 

 Pacey began to look upon Sponge with anything but admiration ; 

 and at last it occurred to him that he would be a very proper 

 subject to, what he called " take the shine out of." 



" That isn't a bad-like nag, that chestnut of yours, for the 

 wheeler of a coach, Mr. Sponge," exclaimed he, at the instigation 

 of Spraggon, to our friend, producing, of course, a loud guffaw 

 from the party. 



