MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR. 62 ( 



but he never succeeded in retaining a hearing. Talkers were far more 

 plentiful than listeners. 



At last they got to singing, and when men begin to sing, it is a 

 sign that they are either drunk, or have had enough of each other's 

 company. Sir Harry's hiccup, from which he was never wholly free, 

 increased tenfold, and he hiccuped and spluttered at almost every 

 word. His hand, which shook so at starting that it was odds whether 

 he got his glass to his mouth or his ear, was now steadied, but his 

 glazed eye and green haggard countenance showed at what a fearful 

 sacrifice the temporary steadiness had been obtained. At last his 

 jaw dropped on his chest, his left aim hung listlessly over the back 

 of the chair, and he fell asleep. Captain Quod, too, was overcome, 

 and threw himself full length on the sofa. Captain Seedybuck began 

 to talk thick. 



Just as they were all about brought to a stand-still, the trampling 

 of horses, the rumbling of wheels, and the shrill twang, twang, twang, 

 of the now almost forgotten mail-horn, roused them from their rev- 

 eries. 



It was Sir Harry's drag scouring the country in search of our 

 party. It had been to all the public houses and beer-shops within a 

 radius of some miles of Nonsuch House, and was now taking a specu- 

 lative blow through the centre of the circle. 



It was a clear frosty night, and the horses' hoofs rang, and the 

 wheels rolled soundly over the hard road, cracking the thin ice, yet 

 hardly sufficiently frozen to prevent a slight upshot from the wheels. 



Twang, twang, tivang, went the horn full upon Farmer Pea- 

 straw's house, causing the sleepers to start, and the waking ones to 

 make for the window. 



" Coach- a-hoy ! " cried Bob Spangles, smashing a pane in a vain 

 attempt to get the window up. The coachman pulled up at the 

 sound. 



" Here we are, Sir Harry ! " cried Bob Spangles, into his bro- 

 ther-in-law's ear, but Sir Harry was too far gone; he could not 

 "come to time." Presently a footman entered with furred coats, and 

 shawls, and checkered rugs, in which those who were sufficiently 

 sober enveloped themselves, and those who were too far gone were 

 huddled by Peastraw and the man ; and amid much hurry and con- 

 fusion, and jostling for inside seats, the party freighted the coach, 

 and whisked away before Mr. Sponge knew where he was. 



When they arrived at Nonsuch House, they found Mr. Bugles 

 exercising the fiddlers by dancing the ladies in turns. 



