buck-handled knife and fork, and diving deep into the rich red meat with the knife.

Soapey, having got two bountiful slices, with a knotch of home-made brown bread and a dab of mustard on his plate-edge, now made for the table, and elbowed himself into a place between Mr. Fossick and Major Mayo, immediately opposite Mr. Spraggon.

"Good morning," said he to that worthy, as he saw the whites of his eyes showing through his formidable spectacles.

Mornin'," muttered Jack, as if his mouth was either too full to articulate or he didn't want to have anything to say to Mr. Sponge.

"Here's a fine hunting morning, my lord," observed Sponge, addressing himself to his lordship, who sat on Jack's left.

"Is it ?" blurted his lordship, pretending to be desperately busy with the contents of his plate, though in reality his appetite was gone.

A dead pause now ensued, interrupted only by the clattering of knives and forks and the occasional exclamations of parties in want of some particular article of food. A chill had come over the scene-a chill whose cause was apparent to every one, except the worthy host and hostess, who had not heard of Mr. Sponge's descent upon the country. They attributed it to his lordship's indisposition, and Mr. Springwheat endeavoured to cheer him up with the prospect of sport.

"There's a brace, if not a leash, of foxes in cover, my lord," observed he, seeing his lordship was only playing with the contents of his plate.

"Is there!" exclaimed his lordship, brightening up: "let's be at 'em!" added he, jumping up and diving under the side table for his flat hat and heavy iron hammer-headed whip. "Good morning, my dear Mrs. Springwheat," exclaimed he, putting on his hat and seizing both her pretty taper-fingered hands and squeezing them ardently. "Good morning, my dear Mrs. Springwheat," repeated he, adding, "by Jove! if ever there was an angel in petticoats you're her; I'd give a hundred pounds for such a wife as you! I'd give a thousand pounds for such a wife as you! By the powers! I'd give five thousand pounds for such a wife as you!" With which asseverations his lordship stamped away in his great clumsy boots, amidst the uproarious laughter of the party.

"No hurry, gentlemen-no hurry," observed Mr. Springwheat, as some of the keen ones were preparing to follow, and began sorting their hats, and making the mistakes incident to their being all the same shape. "No hurry, sir-no hurry, sir," repeated Spring wheat, addressing Mr. Sponge specifically; "his lordship will have a talk to his hounds yet, and his horse is still in the stable."

With this assurance, Mr. Sponge resumed his seat at the table, where several of the hungry ones were plying their knives and forks as if they were indeed breaking their fasts.

"Well, old boy, and how are you?" asked Soapey, as the whites of Jack's eyes again settled upon him, on the latter's looking up from his plateful of sausages.

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Nicely. How are you?" asked Jack.

Nicely too," replied Soapey, in the laconic way men speak who have been engaged in some common enterprise-getting drunk, licking a policeman, or anything of that sort.

"Jaw and the ladies well ?" asked Jack, in the same strain.

"Oh, nicely," said Soapey. "Jaw's headache's gone-wish mine was too."

"Take a glass of cherry-brandy," exclaimed the hospitable Mr. Springwheat: "nothing like a drop of something for steadying the nerves."

"Presently," replied Soapey, "presently; meanwhile I'll trouble the missis for a cup of coffee. Coffee without sugar," said Soapey, addressing the lady.

"With pleasure," replied Mrs. Springwheat, glad to get a little custom for her goods. Most of the gentlemen had been at the bottles and sideboard.

Spring wheat, seeing Mr. Sponge, the only person who, as a stranger, there was any occasion for him to attend upon, in the care of his wife, now slipped out of the room, and mounting his five-year old horse, whose tail stuck out like the long horn of a coach, as his ploughman groom said, rode off to join the hunt.

"By the powers, but those are capital sausages!" observed Jack, smacking his lips and eating away for hard life. "Just look if my lord's on his horse yet," added he to one of the children, who had begun to hover round the table and dive their fingers into the sweets.

"No," replied the child; "he's still on foot, playing with the dogs." "Here goes then," said Jack, for another plate, suiting the action to the word, and running with his plate to the sausage-dish.

"Have a hot one," exclaimed Mrs. Springwheat, adding, "it will be done in a minute."

"No thank ye," replied Jack, with a shake of the head, adding, "I might be done in a minute too.'

"He'll wait for you, I suppose ?" observed Soapey, addressing Jack. "Not so clear about that," replied Jack, gobbling away; "time and my lord wait for no man. But it's hardly the half-hour yet," added he, looking at his watch.

He then fell to with the voracity of a hound after hunting. Soapey too made the most of his time, as did two or three others who still remained.

"Now for the jumping powder!" at length exclaimed Soapey, looking round for the bottle. "What shall it be, cherry or neat?" continued he,

pointing to the two.

"Cherry for me," replied Jack, squinting and eating away without looking up.

"I say neat," rejoined Soapey, helping himself out of the French bottle.

"You'll be hard to hold after that," observed Jack, as he eyed Soapey tossing it off.

"I hope my horse won't," replied Soapey, remembering he was going to ride the resolute chestnut.

"You'll show us the way I dare say," observed Jack.

"Shouldn't wonder," replied Soapey, helping himself to a second glass.

"What! at it again!" exclaimed Jack, adding, "Take care you don't ride over my lord."

"I'll take care of the old file," said Soapey; "it wouldn't do to kill the goose that lays the golden what-do-ye-call-'ems, you know-he, he, he!"

"No," chuckled Jack; "indeed it wouldn't-must make the most of him."

"What sort of a humour is he in to-day?" asked Soapey.

"Middling," replied Jack, "middling; he'll d-n you heartily, most likely, and declare, if it wasn't unbecoming a nobleman to use coarse language, he'd swear; but that you mustn't mind."

"Not I," replied Soapey, who was well used to that sort of thingSoapey, like all horsedealing foxhunters, being always a terribly troublesome fellow in the field.

"You mustn't mind me either," observed Jack, sweeping the last piece of sausage into his mouth with his knife, and jumping up from the table. "I swear when his lordship swears," added he, diving under the side table for his flat hat.

"Hark! there's the horn!" exclaimed Soapey, rushing to the window. "So there is," responded Jack, standing on one leg transfixed to the spot.

"By the powers, they're away!" exclaimed Soapey, as his lordship was seen hat in hand careering over the meadow beyond the cover, with the tail hounds straining to overtake their flying comrades. Twangtwang-twang went Frostyface's horn; crack-crack-crack went the ponderous thongs of the whips; shouts, and yells, and yelps, and whoops, and holloas, proclaimed the usual wild excitement of this privileged period of the chase. All was joy, save among the gourmands assembled at the door-they looked blank indeed.

"What a sell!" said Soapey, who, with Jack, saw the hopelessness of

the case.

"Yonder he goes!" exclaimed a lad, who had run up from the cover to see the hunt from the eminence on which the house stood.

"Where?" exclaimed Soapey, straining his eyeballs.

"There!" said the lad, pointing due south. "D'ye see Tommy Claychop's pasture? Now he's through the hedge and into Mrs. Starveland's turnip-field, making right for Bramblebrake Wood on the hill."

"So he is," said Soapey, in disgust, who now caught sight of the fox emerging from the turnips on to a grass-field beyond.

Jack stood staring through his great spectacles, without deigning a word.

"What shall we do?" asked Soapey.

"Do?" replied Jack, with his chin still up; "go home, I should think."

"There's a man down!" exclaimed a groom, who formed one of the group, as a dark-coated rider and horse measured their length on a pasture.

"It's Mr. Sparks," said another; adding, "he's always rolling about." "Lor, look at the parson!" exclaimed a third, as Blossomnose was seen gathering his horse and setting up his shoulders preparatory to riding at a gate.

"Well done, old 'un!" roared a fourth, as the horse flew over it, apparently without an effort.

"Now for Tom!" cried several, as the second whip went galloping up on the line of the gate.

"Ah! he won't have it!" was the cry, as the horse suddenly stopped short, nearly shooting Tom over his head. "Try him again-try him

again-take a good run-that's him-there, he's over!" was the cry, as Tom flourished his right arm in the air on clearing it.

"Lauk! there's old Tommy Hoggers, the rat-catcher!" cried another, as a man was seen working away with his arms and legs on an old white pony that went about the pace of a pig.

"Ah, Tommy! Tommy!" observed another, "ye'd better shut up, man,-ye'd better shut up; the further ye go, the further ye'll be left a'hint."

A very true prophecy; for before Tommy got to the gap out of the second field, his lordship and the leading men were at the white gate leading into Bramblebrake Wood. A southerly wind wafted the echo of the first outburst of melody back to the "hill," after which the lagging horsemen and still more lagging footmen were all that remained to our left-in-the-lurch friends. How disgusting a red coat is under such circumstances! We have heard it said that running about a fallow after one's horse is the most humiliating thing in nature, but we question whether not getting a start at all is not worse.

"How did my lord get his horse ?" asked Jack of the servant in charge of the hacks, who now came up from the cover, and joined the group at the door.

"It was taken down to him at the cover," replied the man. "My lord went on foot, and the horse went round the back way. The horse wasn't there half a minute afore he was wanted; for no sooner were the hounds in at one side than the fox popped out at t'other. Such a wopper! biggest fox that ever was seen.'

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They are all the biggest foxes that ever were seen," snapped Soapey, who wanted somebody to find fault with; adding, "I'll be bound he wasn't a bit bigger than nine-tenths of what one sees."

"I'll be bound not either," growled Jack, squinting frightfully at the man, for both worthies were equally ready to fall foul of anybody; adding, "Get me my hack, and don't be after talking nonsense there." Our friends then remounted their hacks, and in very discontented moods retraced their steps to their respective homes, fully satisfied that my lord had "done it on purpose.'

GODFREY was in the habit of straying on 'Change in the evening to learn the gossip of the day. It has been said by some one that a visit

alone to a place of amusement is a penance instead of a pleasure. To be alone in a crowd is to experience the most complete solitude. It is so on 'Change. The chance visitor wanders from group to group of busy merchants and stockbrokers, and every one seems employed but himself.

Our hero was on this occasion standing in "the place where merchants most do congregate," when a hand was laid on his shoulder, and a friendly voice exclaimed,

"How are you, sir? How do you get along now?"

He turned round, and recognised Mr. Snag. He replied that he was as well as could be expected.

"A countryman of yours came from up river to-day," said Mr. Snag. "He knows you."

"Knows me?" repeated Selborne.

"He is here now, I expect," said his friend. moment, I will bring him to you."

He departed, and presently returned with an elderly gentleman, whom he introduced as Mr. Underwood, who greeted Selborne with the cordiality of an old acquaintance. Strange to say, the latter had no recollection of him, and, under the circumstances, received his advances with that sort of uncertainty mingled with distrust which a dog is seen to exhibit when being attempted to be conciliated by a suspicious stranger.

There was something in Mr. Underwood's appearance and manner decidedly unprepossessing. His ordinary communications were uttered in an offensively familiar and confidential tone. He gave profound attention to all Godfrey said, while he listened, looked into the speaker's face with a watchful and curious eye, which more than once made Selborne stop short in what he was saying, and his laugh, which was more frequent than necessary, was harsh and grating.

He drew Selborne aside to a seat, and told him that he had seen his friends.

"You see, sir," said he, "that I promised to see you. I think I can be of great service to you."

Godfrey replied drily that he should be glad to know in what way. "Ah!" said the other, in an oily whisper, "that I cannot inform you without you consent to embark in the scheme."

"How can I consent until I know what it is ?" said Godfrey.

"Ah!" replied Mr. Underwood. "Answer me one question. Would you prefer wasting five, or six, or ten years here, at last making a bare competency; or would you run the hazard of life and limb for a few short months, and become a millionnaire at one bold stroke?”

Selborne replied that if he had confidence in the scheme he would not hesitate a moment.

"Would you like," continued Mr. Underwood, “instead of scraping a pile of paltry dollars, to go at once to the fountain-head, and draw direct from the bank of nature-draw till you were tired ?"

"You are speaking riddles to me," said Godfrey.

"Will you swear me secresy ?" said Mr. Underwood.

"I will give you my word," said Selborne," that if the plan is a straightforward one, no person but myself shall know it."

Mr. Underwood laid his hand on Selborne's knee, and said, in a