Year: 1877

One holiday that ] had affords me more amusement by a long way than it did.at the time The tgelh is, it was an awful affair altogether, and it is only now when 1 can laugh unfeiguedly at it myself that l can bear to repeatsit, even on paper There were three of us en- gagged in the plot, and we bound our selves solemnly under the most drcful penalti to protest that We had never enjoyed holiday so much but have reasons for believing that Tom and Jack have both violated tIu.r obligations, and

 feel ahsoved thereby fromf,nine.

 This is+Aer it all happened. You see

 we that is Tom. Jack ,,hEd I thought it fortunate at the time hat all our hnliAays fell upon the snme first fortnight in August; but as it turned out it nYasn't :; for if it hadn't been for that circum- stance we'd never have had our terrible experience with the Flirt

 But am going too fast. Our holidays fell at tue same lime, as have said, and lIlaiiy plans ffUl' f making the most of both the lime and the money at our command were discussed and abandoned, At length the idea was mOotrd that it would not be Il bad arrangement to hire a yacht for 2 fortnight and srend our holidays in cruising about in her, Like most young men belonging to Glasgow, we had all had some experience of boating on the Firth of Clyde andscould boast a little of our nautical knowledge when smoking cigar on the bridge of river steamer.

 The plan proposed was to work won ders. For instance. we would not be con fined .to one place, nor to the hackneyed steamboat routes, but could 20 where ever the spirit moved us (what about it five forgot that three spirits might not work exactly in unison for a whole fortnight D. Then we would save the price of lodgings-we would have no one 10 bother us about when we came in at might've wonld-&c, &c, ,8yc. To whom belonged the credit of the happy thoughts 1 will not undertake to deter mine This know that we all claimed the paternity of it before the holidays, and we al repudated it after them.

 The only question Haas, could we get il yacht and remember how Tom and l q am BilD could almost have hugged Jack hen, one evening. he announced that he had managed 10 charternhnt was the word) Il tendon catter from fellow he knew. The fellow had said that the Flirt-such was the attractive name of the yacht--was perhaps little slow, but that she was perfectly safe and just the thing for Us as we meant to work her ourselves Of course, we invested in blue pilot jackcts--they would serve in place of topcotts for the Winter, with the brass buttons taken off, --and it could scarcely be expected that we would resist the temptation to mount tinsel band on our caps. Then borrowed binocuar from friend--not forgetting the Case, for it's the leather case slung over the shoulder and under the left arm which produces tie impression, -and The other fellows managed to hunt upa pair of opera-glasses by ,f4in. of Their joint exellions. ~ t

 Thus prosided, we one Monday morn ing deployed .gt tie railroad station and stormed tirst-class compartment. The gold bands on our caps attracted the proper amount of attention; but we felt that it would not be quite fair to leave them unsupported in the task of uphold ing cur nautical reputation. So we plnnged into sea talk with reeklesssless which gives my hair tendency to rise on end even yet when l think of ii. Anywhere it would be rash; but GIfeen