agnes and burgundies as
you do, and spend his time after women, I should like to know how he's
to be in hard riding condition, unless he expects a miracle."

With which Chesterfield, who weighed fourteen stone himself, and was,
therefore, out of all but welter-races, and wanted a weight-carrier
of tremendous power even for them, subsided under a heap of velvet and
cashmere, and Cecil laughed; lying on a divan just under one of the gas
branches, the light fell full on his handsome face, with its fair hue
and its gentle languor on which there was not a single trace of the
outrecuidance attributed to him. Both he and the Seraph could lead the
wildest life of any men in Europe without looking one shadow more worn
than the brightest beauty of the season, and could hold wassail in
riotous rivalry till the sun rose, and then throw themselves into saddle
as fresh as if they had been sound asleep all night; to keep up with the
pack the whole day in a fast burst or on a cold scent, or in whatever
sport Fortune and the coverts gave them, till their second horses wound
their way homeward through muddy, leafless lanes, when the stars had
risen.

"Beauty don't believe in training. No more do I. Never would train for
anything," said the Seraph now, pulling the long blond mustaches that
were not altogether in character with his seraphic cognomen. "If a
man can ride, let him. If he's born to the pigskin he'll be in at the
distance safe enough, whether he smokes or don't smoke, drink or don't
drink. As for training on raw chops, giving up wine, living like the
very deuce and all, as if you were in a monastery, and changing yourself
into a mere bag of bones--it's utter bosh. You might as well be in
purgatory; besides, it's no more credit to win then than if you were a
professional."

"But you must have trained at Christ Church, Rock, for the Eight?" asked
another Guardsman, Sir Vere Bellingham; "Severe," as he was christened,
chiefly because he was the easiest-going giant in existence.

"Did I! men came to me; wanted me to join the Eight; coxswain came,
awful strict little fellow, docked his men of all their fun--took plenty
himself though! Coxswain said I must begin to train, do as all his
crew did. I threw up my sleeve and showed him my arm;" and the Seraph
stretched out an arm magnificent enough for a statue of Milo. "I said,
'there, sir, I'll help you thrash Cambridge, if you like, but train I
won't for you or for all the Universi