Warmed by his ride to covert, and hopeless of finding his way back, except in the same company, Mr. Sawyer lost no time in exchanging The Dandy for the grey. “If we are to lark home,” he thought, “I may as well ride a nag I can trust; but if ever I pin my faith upon one of these thin-booted gentlemen to show me the way again, why, I shall deserve the worst that can happen to me—that’s all!”
Now, although the appearance of a stranger does not create such a sensation in Leicestershire as in more remote countries, yet the Honourable Crasher was so well known, that it was natural some inquiries should be made as to his companion; for the Honourable C., who was thoroughly good-natured, had no sooner fraternised with our friend than he began to consider him in some sort, and in his own off-hand way, as under his especial charge. Mr. Sawyer’s exterior, too, although not extraordinarily prepossessing, was undoubtedly workmanlike. As he settled himself in the grey’s saddle, and altered the stirrups which Isaac could never be persuaded to pull to the same length, the clerical gentleman ranging alongside of the Honourable whispered to the latter:
“Who’s that fellow? Is he staying with you at Harborough?”
“Don’t know him from Adam,” he replied, as if there could be any connection between the two. “He don’t seem half a bad fellow, though,” he added, “and I shouldn’t wonder if he could ride.”
Now, the clerical gentleman, who was, indeed, no other than the well-known Parson Dove, had struck up a firm alliance with the Honourable Crasher, cemented on both sides by a keen love for fox-hunting, or perhaps I should rather say, for galloping and jumping over a country—the Parson, be it observed, being the best _sportsman_ of the two. On an occasion like the present, he hoped to secure his friend’s company at luncheon, by which stroke of policy he should please Mrs. Dove, who was not unprepared, and also show him a certain four-year-old, by which the Reverend set great store. Nay, it was by no means impossible that the Honourable, who never missed a chance of placing his neck in jeopardy, or the stranger who looked _hard_, might be induced to buy the animal for purposes of tuition. So he ignored all about Adam, and simply said, “It’s not a quarter of a mile out of your way to stop at the Rectory; indeed, you go by my stableyard. Won’t you and your friend come in and have a glass of sherry and a biscuit?”