Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-01-01

wonderful waistcoat and no shirt-col-
lar, who believes in auricular confess
sion, and who sometimes looks at Bar
bara in such a manner that If | were
Tom / should forget my respect for the
cloth and commit an assault upon the
clerical person. Worse than all, Tom
has innoculated Barbara with his city
notions; and she bores me with such
Stock Exchange jokes, Mark Lane on
dts and rumors of Threadneedle street
that, at tie recollection of them, gave
up Diball's in despair and blotted him
out of my list.
Where. then? One more invitation
I found, without reckoning the 6 Mind
YOU come to us at Christmas, old fell
low" (Which never means anything be-
yond meals, such houses being invari-
ably full when you arrive). 'FBut you
can have very nice bed at the Pig and
Whistle" Very nice! Bedroom situa-
ted either over the stable, where the
horses champ and kick all night, or
above the taproom, where convivial
rustics persist in loudly explaining
what may happen to their delight on a
shiny night until the small hours in the
morning No; this was regular spe-
cifc invitation to Trumpington Hall, a
glorious old specimen of Elizabethan
architecture, situated in the heart of
Kent, with a magnificent garden, fne
lawn sloping down to the lake, fine
corn-felds all round, and the best
shooting in the county. Inside of the
house there are fine old family pictures,
splendid oak panelling, queer little
mullioned windows, and, above all, a
right down hearty welcome. Old Sir
Max Trumpington is a gentleman of
/ the old school-cpen hand, warm
heart won't hear of your going away
when he gets you there. The house is
| always full OF pleasant company-good
fellows and delightful girls. Were
! there any drawbacks? Yes, confound
rest and health, and none but seasoned
vessels could find those at Trumping-
/ ton. [ remem bered old Sir Max being
very particular that each man should
take his regular allowance of wine,
| which regular allowance (about two
/ bottles) it was impossible to shirk, and
the "next morning" headache was un
avoidable; besides, [ had a tolerably
vivid recollection that the previous
autumn, as Laura Ashton and / were
strolllng through the Home Copse,
Fanny and Nelly Trumpington, who
are always up to some mischief, saw
me blow a fy-I repeat it distinctly,
blow a fy-otf Laura's face. They
would not believe it was fly, chaffed
me about it before the assembled COM
pany at dinner, and would infallibly
refer to the subject Being fearfully
susceptible of ridicule, [ dared not go
to Trumpington Hall.
The sea is a good place at Christmas.
Should [ go to Brighton? I asked my
self. No; [ always hated Brighton as
the stronghold of monotcny. Day
after day the same people. Same old
gentlemen, with mouths and nostl1ls
wide open, gasping and inhaling the
sea air-same officers, with tight girths
and lacquered moustaches, galloping
up and down and dealing destruction
to the female population-same female
population nodding and riding and
! hirting-same valetudinarians in same
Bath chairs-same tarrY-trousered man
shouting, "Sail, sir !" and pointing to
same boat-same lookout man at the
custom-house looking through same
telescope-same noise and galloping,
and driving and flirting, and blue sky
and red pavement, day after day.
! No; I was utterly at a loss, and was
! going to give up any expedition in des-
pair and decide upon remaining in
town, when a sudden thought flashed
upon me: [ would go to Germany, to
that old town on the banks of the
Rhine where [ had passed my student
days, and pass the Christmas in the
society Of the university students and
the artists who there do congregate.
There [ should get cordial
welcome; there [ should be al.
/ lowed to do as [ liked, and
the change of language and manners
would brighten me up and restore me
| for the winter campaign. My deter
mination was scarcely complete when
began to act upon it, obtained pass
port and started off.
! [ will pass over my Journey to Dus-
| selberg ard my reception there on
Christmas morning by my old com.
rades Suffice it to say that Of twenty
/ invitations l accepted two-one to din
ner at one o'clock, at a great meeting
/ of artists and students held in the Box
halle, their principal k1eipe or drink
ing house; the other to supper at the
house of an Englishman named Wood
! bridge who had come to reside at Dus-
selberg since my time and to whom
this was my first introduction.
You must come to Woodbridge
supper" said O'Scardon, a six-foot
Irishman in the Austrian service, and
an old friend of mine, "you must come
to Woodbridge's supper, for of all the
devils you ever saw he tops 'em all.
We can't make out what he is. He's
heaps of money, but no one knows
| how he gets it or who he is. He col
lects wonderful lot of people round
him, some of the fastest and most ii
otous of the students here, and he's al
ways got Polish count with him, q
good-lOoking, impertinent scoundrel,
who is so dreadfully offensive that my
longing to kick him is growing into q
positive disease. Woodbridge, though
ne has only been domesticated here q
few months, has already had several
rows with the police and government
IIhO, do ChSJ soy Uo-h1SIG . supper 10 "
be the boldest thing he has yet at
tempted, advise you by all means te
come"
After having been talked to in this
strain, [ need scarcely say that [ looked
forward to my supper at Woodbridge
with much curiosity. The remainder
Of the day was spent in lounging about
and in a very noisy dinner with the
students, and at about eight in the
evening [ found myself at Woodbridge
lodgings.
/ He occupied handsome apartments
over the shop of the principal saddlel
of the town; and when arrived there
were some ten or dozen young mer
seated about, some of whom [ knew
Scarcely, however, had my name beer
announced before a tall, elegant look
ing man of about thirty years OF age
stepped forward, and, addressing me-
apoIogized for Wooodbridge's tempor
airy absence, introduced himself as
Count Zintorski, and begged me tC
take cigar and make myself at home