g a very fair average of the raffs and raps,
of the county. The mysteries of horse-flesh, were, of course, the only
subject of conversation; and before the punch made its appearance,
I astonished the company by the extent of my information, and the
acuteness of my remarks.

"I improvised steeple-chases over impossible countries, invented
pedigrees for horses yet unfoaled, and threw out such a fund of anecdote
about the 'turf' and the 'chace,' that I silenced the old established
authorities of the place, and a general buzz went round the table of,
'Who can he be, at all--where did he come from?'

"As the evening wore apace, my eloquence grew warm--I described my
stud and my kennel, told some very curious instances of my hunting
experience, and when at last a member of the party, piqued at my
monopoly of the conversation, endeavoured to turn my flank by an
allusion to grouse-shooting, I stopped him at once, by asserting with
vehemence, that no man deserved the name of sportsman who shot over
dogs--a sudden silence pervaded the company, while the last speaker
turning towards me with a malicious grin, begged to know how I bagged my
game, for that, in _his_ county, they were ignorant enough to follow the
old method.

"'With a pony of course,' said I, finishing my glass.

"'A pony!' cried one after the other--how do you mean?'

"'Why,' resumed I, 'that I have a pony sets every species of game, as
true as the best pointer that ever 'stopped.'

"A hearty roar of laughing followed this declaration, and a less
courageous spirit than mine would have feared that all his acquired
popularity was in danger.

"'You have him with you, I suppose,' said a sly old fellow from the end
of the table.

"'Yes,' said I carelessly--'I brought him over here to take a couple of
days' shooting, if there is any to be had.

"'You would have no objection,' said another insinuatingly, 'to let us
look at the beast?'

"'Not the least,' said I.

"'Maybe you'd take a bet on it,' said a third.

"'I fear I couldn't,' said I,--'the thing is too sure--the wager would
be an unfair one.'

"'Oh! as to that,' cried three or four together, 'we'll take our chance,
for even if we were to lose, if s well worth paying for.'

"The more I expressed my dislike to bet, the more warmly they pressed
me, and I could perceive that a general impression was spreading that my
pony was about as apocryphal as many of my previous stories.

"'Ten pounds with you, h