d to the
sport by the introduction of a master's race in the programme, and
naturally this led the conversation to the athletic merits of the
masters.

Said one of the merry company:

"What do you think of the French master?"

"Not much," said the chorus.

"Well, he is powerfully built," intimated one with a knowing look, who
was, perhaps, bringing some personal recollection to bear on the
subject.

"Yes," said another; "but he is too fat; he has no wind. He would be
nowhere."

"What would you take him at?" asked the one with a knowing look.

"Sixty to one," was the reply.

Some discussion took place, and I "closed" at fifty to one.

Thus was my case settled.

* * * * *

As to the matter of athletics, to which English boys are such devotees,
I cannot help thinking that they are overdone, made a hobby of, and,
like most hobbies in England, ridden to excess. No doubt it is a fine
thing for a boy to have plenty of outdoor amusements; it is good for
him to be an adept at running, leaping, climbing, swimming; but what in
the world does he learn at football, the great winter game of the
English schoolboy? Why do the English so neglect pastimes that would
develop dexterity of hand and limb, and devote themselves to a game
which seems to me to teach nothing except respect of brute force?

"Oh! but it cultivates their powers of endurance," says somebody.

That is true, I believe; although, from what I have seen of the two, I
never could discover that an Englishman was more patient under the
toothache than a Frenchman.

Now, to get bruised ribs and dislocated shoulders in practicing flights
out of second and third storey windows I should understand; an
accomplishment of that kind might be useful in case of fire; but to
what end does all the bruising of football tend?

The game of football itself seems to be the end, and "not a means to an
end," as, I believe, Mr. Matthew Arnold has remarked.

* * * * *

Yet, behold John Bull, junior, on the football ground! The hero of a
bad cause, but for all that a hero; a lusty little fellow, fearless,
hardy, strong-knit, iron-muscled, and mule-headed, who, rather than let
go a ball that he holds firmly in his arms, will perform feats of
valor; who, simply to pass this ball between two goals, will grovel in
the dust, reckless of lacerated shoulders, a broken rib or jaw-bone,
and will die on