So then endeth our thirtieth chapter, and a very pleasant ending it is, for
we leave everyone in perfect good humour and spirits, Sponge pleased at
having got a fresh billet, Jawleyford delighted at the coming of the lord,
and each fair lady practising in private how to sign her Christian name in
conjunction with 'Scamperdale.'
CHAPTER XXXI
MR. PUFFINGTON; OR THE YOUNG MAN ABOUT TOWN
Mr. Puffington took the Mangeysterne, now the Hanby hounds, because he
thought they would give him consequence. Not that he was particularly
deficient in that article; but being a new man in the county, he thought
that taking them would make him popular, and give him standing. He had no
natural inclination for hunting, but seeing friends who had no taste for
the turf take upon themselves the responsibility of stewardships, he saw
no reason why he should not make a similar sacrifice at the shrine of
Diana. Indeed, Puff was not bred for a sportsman. His father, a most
estimable man, and one with whom we have spent many a convivial evening,
was a great starch-maker at Stepney; and his mother was the daughter of an
eminent Worcestershire stone-china maker.
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