MR. sponge's sporting tour. 193 



Mr. Sponge himself, exclaiming, as lie stood shaking his fist at him, 

 " Rot ye, Sir ! hangings too good for ye ! you should he condemned 

 to hunt in Berwickshire the rest of your life ! " 



CHAPTER XXX. 



BOLTING THE BADGER. 



\ 



"When a man and his horse differ seriously in public, and the man 

 feels the horse has the best of it, it is wise for the man to appear to 

 accommodate his views to those of the horse rather than risk a 

 defeat. It is best to let the horse go his way, and pretend it is yours. 

 There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse. 



Mr. Sponge, having scattered Lord Scamperdale in the summary 

 way described in our last chapter, let the chestnut gallop away, con- 

 soling himself with the idea that even if the hounds did hunt, it 

 would be impossible for him to show his horse to advantage on so dark 

 and unfavourable a day. He, therefore, just let the beast gallop till 

 he began to flag, and then he spurred him, and made him gallop on 

 his account. He thus took his change out of him, and arrived at 

 Jawleyford Court a little after luncheon time. 



Brief as had been his absence, things had undergone a great 

 change. Certain dark hints respecting his ways and means had 

 worked their way from the servants' hall to my lady's chamber, and 

 into the upper regions generally. These had been augmented by 

 Leathers the trusty groom's, overnight visit, in fulfilment of his 

 engagement to sup with the servants. Nor was Mr. Leather's anger 

 abated by the unceremonious way Mr. Sponge rode off with the 

 horse, leaving him to hear of his departure from the ostler. Having 

 broken faith with him, he considered it his duty to be " upsides 

 with him, and tell the servants all he knew about him. Accordingly 

 he let out, in strict confidence of course, to Spigot, that so far from 

 Mr. Sponge being a gentleman of " fortin," as he called it, with a 

 dozen or two hunters planted here and there, he was nothing but the 

 hirer of a couple of hacks, with himself as a job-groom, by the week. 

 Spigot, who was on the best of terms with the " cook-house-keeper," 

 and had his clothes washed on the sly in the laundry, could not do 

 less than communicate the intelligence to her, from whom it went to 

 the lady's-maid, and thence circulated in the upper regions. 



Juliana, the maid, finding Miss Amelia less indisposed to hear 

 Mr. Sponge run down than she expected, proceeded to add her own 

 observations to the information derived from Leather, the groom. 

 9 



