60 mr. sponge's sporting tour. 



huntsmen know so well how to tell, when there is no one to contra- 

 dict them. 



Having quartered his ground to get at his old friend the bridge 

 again, he just trotted up with well-assumed gaiety as Caingey Thorn- 

 ton spluttered the last piece of green weed out from between his 

 great thick lips. 



" Well Tom ! " exclaimed Mr. Waffles, " what have you done 

 with him?" 



" Killed him, sir" replied Tom, with a slight touch of his cap, 

 as though " killing " was a matter of every-day occurrence with 

 them. 



" Have you indeed ! " exclaimed Mr. Waffles, adopting the lie 

 with avidity. 



" Yes, sir," said Tom gravely ; " he was nearly beat afore he got 

 to the brook. Indeed, I thought Vanquisher would have had him 

 in it ; but, however, he got through, and the scent failed on the fal- 

 low, which gave him a chance ; but I held them on to the hedgerow 

 beyond, where they hit it off like wildfire, and they never stopped 

 again till they tumbled him over at the back of Mr. Plummey's 

 farm-buildings, at Shapwick. I've got his brush," added Tom 

 producing a much tattered one from his pocket, " if you'd like to 

 have it ? " 



" Thank you, no — yes — no," replied Waffles, not wanting to be 

 bothered with it ; " yet stay," continued he as his eye caught Mr. 

 Sponge, who was still on foot beside his vanquished friend ; " give it 

 to Mr. What-de-ye-call-'em," added he nodding towards our hero. 



" Sponge" observed Tom, in an under tone, giving the brush to 

 his master. 



" Mr. Sponge, will you do me the favour to accept the brush ? " 

 asked Mr. Waffles, advancing with it towards him ; adding, " I 

 am sorry this unlucky bather should have prevented your seeing the 

 end." 



Mr. Sponge was a pretty good judge of brushes, and not a bad 

 one of camphire ; but if this one had smelt twice as strong as it did 

 — indeed, if it had dropped to pieces in his hand, or the moths had 

 flown up in his face, he would have pocketed it, seeing it paved the 

 way to what he wanted — an introduction. 



" I'm very much obliged, I'm sure," observed he, advancing to 

 take it — " very much obliged, indeed ; been an extremely good run, 

 and fast." 



" Very fair — very fair," observed Mr. Waffles, as though it were 

 nothing in their way ; " seven miles in twenty minutes, I suppose, or 

 something of that sort." 



" One-and- twenty," interposed Tom, with a laudable anxiety for 

 accuracy. 



" Ah I one-and-twenty," rejoined Mr. Waffles. " I thought it 



