376 MR. sponge's sporting tour. 



brandy, ana " 'baccy," — " 'baccy," brandy, and billiards, varied with 

 an occasional stroll about the grounds, the non-sporting inmates of 

 Nonsuch House beguiled the time, much to Mr. Sponge's disgust, 

 whose soul was on fire and eager for the fray. The reader's perhaps 

 being the same, we will skip Christmas and pass on to New-Year's 

 Day. 



CHAPTER LXII. 



A FAMILY BREAKFAST. 



'Twere almost superfluous to say that New- Year's Day is always a 

 great holiday. It is a day on which custom commands people to be 

 happy and idle, whether they have the means of being happy 

 and idle or not. It is a day for which happiness and idleness are 

 " booked," and parties are planned and arranged long beforehand. 

 Some go to the town, some to the country; some take rail; some 

 take steam ; some take greyhounds ; some take gigs ; while others 

 take guns and pop at all the little dickey-birds that come in their 

 way. The rural population generally incline to a hunt. They are 

 not very particular as to style, so long as there are a certain number 

 of hounds, and some men in scarlet, to blow their horns, halloo, and 

 crack their whips. 



The population, especially the rising population about Nonsuch 

 House, all inclined that way. A New- Year's Day hunt with Sir 

 Harry had long been looked forward to by the little Raws, and the 

 little Spooneys, and the big and little Cheeks, and we don't know 

 how many others. Nay, it had been talked of by the elder boys at 

 their respective schools — we beg pardon, academies — Doctor Switch- 

 ington's, Mr. Latherington's, Mrs. Skelper's, and a liberal allowance 

 of boasting indulged in, as to how they would show each other the 

 way over the hedges and ditches. The thing had long been talked 

 of. Old Johnny Raw had asked Sir Harry to arrange the day so 

 long ago, that Sir Harry had forgotten all about it. Sir Harry was 

 one of those good-natured souls who can't say " No " to any one. 

 If anybody had asked if they might set fire to his house, he would 

 have said, 



" Oh, (hiccup) certainly, my dear (hiccup) fellow, if it will give 

 you any (hiccup) pleasure." 



Now, for the hiccup day. 



It is generally a frost on New- Year's Day ; — however wet and 

 sloppy the weather may be up to the end of the year, it generally 

 turns over a new leaf on that day. New-Year's Day is generally a 

 bright, bitter, sunshiny day, with starry ice, and a most decided anti- 



