some note in its way, called the Fox and 

 Goose. Here, we had fondly anticipated 

 " good accommodation for man " if not " for 

 beast." Keport had signalised the fact of 

 there being a snug little room up stairs, 

 with a " sweet look-out ;" and report had 

 also spoken highly of a tankard of good 

 ale,— a rural luxury of which we are extra- 

 vagantly fond. On coming to an anchor 

 here, with very dusty boots, and a very dry 

 throat, we found in the window an affiche, 

 signifying in plain English, that the " House 

 was done up," and an auction about to be 

 held to " sell off" the said little room with 

 a sweet look-out, and the remnants (if any !) 

 of the ale ! This was a sad look-out for 

 us ; but we persevered under difficulties, and 

 went on. 



Upon the hill we turn'd, 



To take a last fond look — 

 Of the Fox, and Goose, and " little room," 



In this sequester' d nook; 



and then, guided like a camel, by a peculiar 

 instinct, we smelt ale in the near distance. 

 We descended, and found it at Apperton, 

 a village (with one house in it) hard by. 



Here we were instantly " at home ;" and 

 seated on a bench under the clear blue sky, 

 we enjoyed a meal of rare excellence. We 

 were much amused, whilst making inquiry 

 of our fair hostess (a plumper !) which was 

 the best liquor she had, — beer or ale ? All 

 we could get from her was, — " Which you 

 please." " But which do you like best ?" 

 asked we, in our blandest and most insi- 

 nuating tone (the country air renders such 

 an experiment naturally easy !) A shake of 

 the head was our only response. " Do you 

 never take any, then ?" remarked we, sig- 

 nificantly. Here, we triumphed. " N— o, 

 I do — a — n-t ! " smirked the old lady ; adding 

 emphatically — " Thank Grod !" This was a 

 poser ; nevertheless, the ale and beer 

 (barring the fact of the latter being only 

 " just in," and muddy) were passable. 



We will now record something that shall 

 immortalise this little road -side inn ; for the 

 landlord is of high lineal descent. Perching 

 himself upon a bench facing us, Boniface, a 

 blue -stockinged veteran, who we should (ig- 

 norantly) have guessed to have been one of 

 the " ornaments " in Noah's Ark, opened a 

 running fire on us in the way of conversa- 

 tion, — his highlows beating time to his 

 words. 



We first questioned him as to the cause 

 of the Fox and the Goose being " done up ;" 

 telling him that that circumstance alone 

 caused us to have the pleasure of his com- 

 pany. We gathered one-half the " parti- 

 culars " from the extraordinary movement of 

 his head, eyes, knees, and hands, which 

 appeared to be in search of the " perpetual 

 motion ;" and we felt much mist dispelled 



from our minds, when we saw him place the 

 fore finger of his right hand longitudinally 

 across his nose, while the residue of his 

 digits (thumb included) quickly vibrated, as 

 if struck with " the dance of St. Vitus." 

 The agitation over ; he summed up, by 

 saying, that " when the wife was drunk, the 

 husband was sober, and wicey wharsey • in 

 addition to which, all the members of both 

 families were quartered on the house, which 

 couldn't stand it no longer ; for they eat and 

 drunk up all that was in the place ; so that 

 travellers couldn't get nawthinV 



We now questioned him as to himself, and 

 more particularly as to his name, — Hercules 

 Allen. We told him, he once had a name- 

 sake great among the Clubs, a man of illus- 

 trious descent; and that for labor, none 

 could compare with him, nor could they 

 for renown. " Aye, aye, Sir," said he, 

 " but I come of a higher family than that. 

 One of my ancestors succeeded Herod, and 

 I can prove it from the Bible. I am proud 

 of my origin." " Indeed !" quoth we ; and 

 is your name mentioned in the Bible?" 

 " Aye, that it is," responded Boniface, " and 

 I will lay you a pint of beer that I can show 

 it you." " Done !" said we ; and away 

 went Sir John Barleycorn for the book, 

 whilst we emptied our glasses. 



The book was produced, and the second 

 chapter of St. Matthew, and the 22nd verse 

 was triumphantly pointed out for us to read. 

 We read aloud as follows : — 



" But when he heard that Archelaus did 

 reign in Judsea, in the room of his father 

 Herod, &c." " I told you so," chuckled the 

 old man (he could not of course read) ; " my 

 name -sake, Hercules, did succeed Herod, 

 for the Bible says so, and I have won the 

 wager." " Gently," said we, " the words are 

 spelt differently, quite differently." " That 

 may be," said the old man; "but mine is 

 spelt right, and the other sounds very like it ; 

 so it's all the same thing, — at all events, very 

 near it" 



This " floored " us ; and we left the old 

 man rejoicing in the pride of ancestry. 

 " Where ignorance is bliss, 'twere folly to be 

 wise!" But we must bring our rambles to 

 a close ; first noticing that the river Brent 

 flows past Apperton, and that many young 

 anglers stop here in the season to catch 

 tittlebats, in which feats, according to the 

 Apperton records, "they sometimes succeed, 

 but oftener not." 



Retracing our steps, and again passing the 

 inhospitable Fox and Goose (who had drunk 

 themselves out, ^and eaten themselves up), 

 we soon found ourselves passing through 

 the lodge into the picturesque avenue lead- 

 ing to Twyford Abbey. Our companion, we 

 could see, had, with the greatest good taste, 

 oftentimes made this place and its vicinity 

 his favorite walk — sly fellow ! — for he pointed 



