158 mr. sponge's sporting tour. 



" I must go and see him," observed Mrs. Jawleyford, hurrying off. 



" Hem — cough — hem — hope he's not much — hem — damaged?" 

 observed Jack. 



The old lady being thus got rid of, and Jawleyford disposed of — 

 apparently for the night — Mr. Spraggpn felt more comfortable, and 

 presently yielded to Amelia's entreaties to come near the fire and 

 thaw himself. Spigot brought candles, and Mr. Sponge sat moodily 

 in his chair, alternately studying Mogg's " Cab Fares " — " Old Bailey, 

 Newgate-street, to or from the Adelphi, the Terrace, Is. 6d.; Ad- 

 miralty, 2s.;" and so on; and hazarding promiscuous sidelong sort 

 of observations, that might be taken up by Jack or not, as he liked. 

 He seemed determined to pay Mr. Jack off for his out-of-door impu- 

 dence. Amelia, on the other hand, seemed desirous of making up for 

 her suitor's rudeness, and kept talking to Jack with an assiduity that 

 perfectly astonished her sister, who had always heard her speak of 

 him with the utmost abhorrence. 



Mrs. Jawleyford found her husband in a desperate state of excite- 

 ment, his influenza being greatly aggravated by Harry having returned 

 very drunk, with the mare's knees desperately broken " by a fall," as 

 Harry hiccuped out, or by his " throwing her down," as Jawleyford 

 declared. Horses fall with their masters, servants -throw them down. 

 What a happiness it is when people can send their servants on errands 

 by coaches or railways, instead of being kept on the fidget all day, 

 lest a fifty-pound horse should be the price of a bodkin or a basket 

 of fish ! 



Amelia's condescension quite turned Jack's head ; and when he 

 went up-stairs to dress, he squinted at his lordship's best clothes, all 

 neatly laid out for him on the bed, with inward satisfaction at having 

 brought them. 



" Dash me ! " said he, " I really think that girl has a fancy for 

 me." Then he examined himself minutely in the glass, brushed his 

 whiskers up into a curve on his cheeks, the curves almost correspond- 

 ing with the curve of his spectacles above ; then he gave his bristly, 

 porcupine-shaped head a backward rub with a sort of thing like a 

 scrubbing-brush. " If I'd only had the silver specs," thought he, " I 

 should have done." 



He then began to dress ; an operation that ever and anon was 

 interrupted by the outburst of volleys of smoke from the little splut- 

 tering, smouldering fire, in the little shabby room Jawleyford insisted 

 on having him put into. 



Jack tried all things — opening the window and shutting the door, 

 shutting the window and opening the door ; but finding that, instead 

 of curing it, he only produced the different degrees of comparison — 

 bad, worse, worst, he at length shut both, and applied himself vigor- 

 ously to dressing. He soon got into his stockings and pumps, also 



