amper,
and seemed difficult to find, and he had to lean over further and
further, and, in trying to steer at the same time, from a topsy-turvy
point of view, he pulled the wrong line, and sent the boat into the bank,
and the shock upset him, and he dived down right into the hamper, and
stood there on his head, holding on to the sides of the boat like grim
death, his legs sticking up into the air. He dared not move for fear of
going over, and had to stay there till I could get hold of his legs, and
haul him back, and that made him madder than ever.

CHAPTER VIII.

Blackmailing.--The proper course to pursue.--Selfish boorishness of
river-side landowner.--"Notice" boards.--Unchristianlike feelings of
Harris.--How Harris sings a comic song.--A high-class party.--Shameful
conduct of two abandoned young men.--Some useless information.--George
buys a banjo.

We stopped under the willows by Kempton Park, and lunched. It is a
pretty little spot there: a pleasant grass plateau, running along by the
water's edge, and overhung by willows. We had just commenced the third
course--the bread and jam--when a gentleman in shirt-sleeves and a short
pipe came along, and wanted to know if we knew that we were trespassing.
We said we hadn't given the matter sufficient consideration as yet to
enable us to arrive at a definite conclusion on that point, but that, if
he assured us on his word as a gentleman that we _were_ trespassing, we
would, without further hesitation, believe it.

He gave us the required assurance, and we thanked him, but he still hung
about, and seemed to be dissatisfied, so we asked him if there was
anything further that we could do for him; and Harris, who is of a chummy
disposition, offered him a bit of bread and jam.

I fancy he must have belonged to some society sworn to abstain from bread
and jam; for he declined it quite gruffly, as if he were vexed at being
tempted with it, and he added that it was his duty to turn us off.

Harris said that if it was a duty it ought to be done, and asked the man
what was his idea with regard to the best means for accomplishing it.
Harris is what you would call a well-made man of about number one size,
and looks hard and bony, and the man measured him up and down, and said
he would go and consult his master, and then come back and chuck us both
into the river.

Of course, we never saw him any more, and, of course, all he really
wanted was a shilling. There are a c