River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-01-03

cousin Barbara Tom lisa good fel.
low, with a nice house in Hartford
shire, good horses, pleasant grounds
and excellent wine. There is the bed
room, first.rate there could / do as L
chose-eat, drink, smoke and read.
No not read there's the rub. There's
was not a book in Toms house except
McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary"
and n list of Lord Brushton's fox
hounds. / spent two wet days there
once, and was driven nearly mad Be-
sides, Tom conversation, though pleas
ant at first, bores after ten minutes.
/ do not deny that the ages and prices
of a mans stud are interesting subjects
to him, though perhaps they possess
not such attraction to the world at
large and although the rates OF con
soils and shares deservedly occupy a
large share of public attention, yet,
when you happen to possess neither
one nor the other, you don't much care
what they are "done at" Toms
friends are all alike, and no one dimes
there but the curate of the parish, an
unwholesome young man, who wears
wonderful waistcoat and no shirt-col-
lar, who believes in auricular confess
sion, and who sometimes looks at Bar
bara in such 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
,y;fo op1 rt,Ynnro &C nhraaInna.1lc
that, at tie recollection of them, | gave
up Diball's in despair and blotted him
ont of my list.
Where, then2 One more invitation
| found, without reckoning the d" 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). "But 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-
clfic invitation to Trumpington Hall, a
glorious old specimen of Elizabethan
architecture, situated in the heart of
Kent, with a magnificent garden, fac
lawn sloping down to the lake, fine
corn-fields all round, and the best
shooting in the county. Inside of tine
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-open 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
it, always something; | was going for
rest and health, and none but seasoned
vessels could find those at Trumping-
ton. / remembered 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
strolling through the Home Copse,
Fanny and Nelly Trumpington, who
are always up to some mischief, saw
me blow fy-I repeat il distinctly,
blow a fy-off Laura's face They
would not believe it was fiy, chaffed
me about ii before the assembled COM
pany at dinner, and would infallibly
refer TO the subject. Being fearfully
susceptible of ridicule, dared not 90
to Trumpington Hall.
The sea is a good place at Christmas.
7 Should go to Brighton 2 | asked my
self No; | always hated Brighton as
/ the stronghold of monotony. Day
after day the same people. Same old
4 gentlemen, with mouths and nostnls
wide open, gasping and inhaling the
sen 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
iiirtlng-same valetudinarians IN same
Bath chaiTs-same tarry-trOusered man
shouting, "Sail, sirl" and pointing to
same boat-sOme lookout man at the
oustom-house looking through same
telescope-same noise and galloping,
and driving and flirting, and blue sky
and red pavement, day after day.
Mo- ] was utterly at loss, and was
going to give up any expedition in des-
pair and decide upon remaining in
town, when sudden thought flashed
upon me would go to Germany, 10
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 rs | liked, and
/ tho nhnnrn IL lnnnnnnn nnl tnnnnn,.