persuade him to accommodate you with one; by way of inducing him, pay him a flattering compliment; offer to take his portrait. I will support you, and make it a condition that it shall be hung in my diningroom as a pleasing memento to myself when he is absent, and which will afford me a twofold interest, as being a production from your easel. He is only a trifle stouter than yourself, and as his coats fit him to a nicety, one of them will not appear outré on you. No one will ever discover that the coat was not made for you; so if you approve the plan, I will make the proposition. Nothing could have suited Vainboy's taste better, and with the most cordial expression of thanks it was decided that Ap-Shenkin should open the proceedings. To get a coat made by a first-rate London tailor was his great ambition, and then to procure one nearly as good as new for the cost of a little bit of canvass, a modicum of paint, and the expenditure of a little worthless time, suited Vainboy's calculations to a nicety. Besides which, the éclat of taking Jackson's portrait, an especially good-looking fellow as he was, quite a lady's man, with the proviso that the painting should ornament ApShenkin's dining-room, raised Vainboy higher in his own estimation than any event that had transpired for years. He determined to finish it with the utmost care, and some visionary dreams flashed across his mind of sending it to the Exhibition as the splendid production of an amateur. Somewhat reluctant to part with a coat for such a consideration, Ap-Shenkin experienced some difficulty in persuading Jackson to comply. He was a great calculator and shrewd economist, and compared with himself the intrinsic value of the garment at any emporium of second-hand clothes. Ap-Shenkin worked extensively on his generosity, and had Jackson possessed sufficient confidence in the talent of the artist to believe that his abilities would enable him to execute a painting fit for any other purpose than a sign at a village inn, his objections would have been more readily overcome. He possessed no small share of vanity, and therefore desired that his portrait should be sufficiently flattering. Ap-Shenkin's persuasions almost invariably prevailed, and this case did not prove an exception.

Before taking his leave, Welton had offered the use of his horses and dogcart to Ap-Shenkin, to convey him and his visitors to Aberystwith; a very kind intention, though a hazardous procedure, as there was not one of the party skilled in the art of tandem driving. Jackson was selected to take the ribbons; but with plenty of nerve, he was deficient in practice. To him the necks of the party and safety of the horses were entrusted. To effect the preliminaries for a start was a service of some difficulty; for, however capacious was the dogcart, it was destined to convey as much luggage as on ordinary occasions would be a load for a mail coach, and more than some of the fast ones of olden times would have taken as the legitimate share of three passengers. How to stow it away became a consideration of extreme perplexity; nor was it till an arrangement was made that Welton's servant should resign his seat in favour of one of Jackson's gigantic portmanteaus, and ride Ap-Shenkin's hack, that the difficulty could be overcome. Hence much delay was experienced, and instead of leaving at ten o'clock a.m., it was one p.m. before they got underweigh. The bye-roads of the Principality were not the most convenient or agreeable for tandem driving, and in Jackson's unpractised hands it was rather more the guardian.

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ship of the little cherub who sits up aloft, than the guidance of the team, that exonerated them from accidents. An affrighted pig, disturbed from his recumbent position on a ditch bank, dancing a polka with a high-couraged and rather fractious leader, is not exactly calculated to sooth the pulse of a nervous man. Little children revelling in the dust without an idea inherent, or intuitive of danger, or the necessity of moving out of the road when suddenly approached from a short turn of the road into a village, by a carriage proceeding at a much greater pace than they are accustomed to see, drawn by a leader not very readily stopped in twenty yards, especially when his mouth has been rather roughly handled, does not quite suit the turn of mind of a man like Ap-Shenkin, whose greatest grief would be occasioned by the occurrence of any accident to any of the little urchins. He did not feel happy, and his ride was to him by no means a pleasing one. remedy this, Welton's servant was ordered to precede as outrider to clear the road. But with this arrangement new difficulties arose. It caused the leader to pull uncomfortably-an event by no means in consonance with Jackson's notions of felicity. And another very distasteful nuisance was produced by the dust with which they were all annoyed. Jackson abhorred the idea of carrying a turnpike-road on his countenance; and Vainboy was equally disturbed by inhaling the particles of dust, without having the opportunity of washing them down his throat with frequent imbibations of "cold without." Despite, however, several close shaves and hair-breadth escapes acting as salutary cautions, the trio reached Aberystwith in safety just as the fashionable inhabitants were retiring from the enjoyments of the invigorating effects of seabreezes, with keen appetites for that repast which to Englishmen and Cambrians is especially welcome.

There is something extremely exciting and refreshing in the preliminary arrangements of a race-meeting at this delightful little town, now unknown in the more populous districts in England, where the presiding genius of fire-and-water conveys an immense influx of company and horses to the scene of action but a brief space of time before the races take place, affording little opportunity for those exchanges of opinion, prophetic warnings, and comparisons of past performances, which occasion so much enjoyment in the pleasing sentiment of anticipation. The spacious coffee-room at the Belle Vue was already well tenanted, and nearly every table engaged, when the Maescwm party entered, and more than a moiety of the occupants were anxious in their inquiries of Ap-Shenkin as to the qualifications of his pet steed for the forthcoming great event of the meeting. Had it been a stake of ten times the value at any place in England, the interest would have been far less intense or general. Highly popular with all classes, every one hoped that Ap-Shenkin's horse would win ; and many of his countrymen who entertained a doubt were restrained from investing their capital against him, from the feeling that by so doing their interests would generate an impulse contrary to the dictates of their hopes. During the evening a little ring was formed, and Liliputian books bore testimony to the interest attached to the pending event. Heavy betting was not the fashion, though there were few who did not invest a trifle; and Vainboy paced the room with as much importance, book in hand, as if he had heavy investments.

Great was the disappointment occasioned by Welton's non-attendance, and great indeed was the concern of Mr. Slowman, who had depended upon enlisting his services for the Aristocratic Stakes. Trusting to Welton's coming, he had neglected to make any previous arrangements, and at the eleventh hour was unprovided with a jockey for a horse of considerable pretensions. In this dilemma every man possessing the slightest pretensions to jockeyship was applied to, and most of them were willing enough to attempt it; but the odds are very great indeed against an unpractised novice, and there was not a man disengaged who had ever ridden a race, except Vainboy. He, too, was far from being a professor, and on being asked made as many coy excuses as a young lady when requested to favour the company with the dulcet tones of her melodious voice. It was not his desire, though, to lose the opportunity; but there was a serious impediment: he was not provided with boots and leathers, and to ride in trousers would be too unprofessional. Ap-Shenkin soon overcame that difficulty by suggesting that Davy was sure to have provided himself for the chance of a mount; so, losing no time, our hero sallied forth to seek him out, and secure the use of his racing appointments. Gasping for breath, he returned to the room in hot haste, with a countenance beaming with delight, and proclaimed to Jackson that it was "all right."

"But you cannot ride with those badger-pied whiskers," exclaimed the latter: "6 all eyes will be upon you: they will designate you the venerable jockey. Try and make yourself look juvenile; and then with the appearance of a young head on old shoulders, you will make an impression, and at least gain the admiration of the ladies, if you are not fortunate enough to gain the stakes for the man you ride for."

Jackson had always some mischievous scheme in anticipation, and Vainboy was a favourite butt, against whom he delighted to direct his shafts.

"Get some die, my boy," said he, "and dress them well before you go to roost, and by morning they will vie with the raven's plume." "But there is none to be had at this hour of the night," replied Vainboy, with an expression of despair on his usually rueful-looking

countenance.

"Leave that to me," answered Jackson, "I will soon procure some for you. I do remember an apothecary;' and if he has gone to take his rest, we'll wake him up, and prepare a medicament of inestimable value. I will stake my life on the hazard of the die."

They sallied forth, and procured the application, which Vainboy employed most profusely according to Jackson's directions, wetting his whiskers, and combing them again and again till they were most effectually saturated, and in that state carefully tied up his face as if he were suffering from a severe attack of tic-doloreux, and then laid his head upon his pillow to seek repose. A most interesting object he must have looked, had he been seen in that position. But there was no rest for him that night. His brain was busily working on the events of the morrow. The workman-like appearance he would make; the little specimens of artistic jockeyship he would display; forcing the running, yet nursing his horse; waiting till past the distance, and then half-way up coming with a rush, and winning on the post by a bare head, were little episodes which would have excited a more tranquil brain than his. In the

theory of race-riding he was tolerably proficient; but between theory and practice in that art there is a wide distinction, which many a tyro has discovered to his cost. All novices are in too great haste; and when they attempt to set to, it is a painful sight. Silks and leathers in convulsions strike the eyes of spectators; creating a sensation certainly, but not one of gratification. Vainboy was not unlike that splendid artist Harry Edwards; and Ap-Shenkin had given him that cognomen, at which he felt himself not a little flattered. But, unfortunately, the similarity was only personal; had it extended to the art of race-riding, he might have had much cause to be vain. As a horseman, Edwards had no superior: there was a steadiness in his seat which very few could imitate. But fine riding is an art almost obsolete at least, it has lost much of its value. The lightest weights for the most part make the largest fortunes; and the experience of those juveniles being very limited, Vainboy consoled himself with the impression that he must be equal to one of them. Be it remembered, though, that these "small boys" appear to sit more quietly than men, because their limbs have a more confined sphere of action than persons of larger stature. Contemplating these little matters, and tossing about in his bed, sleep never closed his nervous eyes till after daybreak, when, wearied, he fell into a slumber about the time he ought to have arisen from his couch. Painful was his consternation when he awoke; and approaching the glass to ascertain the effect of the dye, on taking the bandage from his countenance, he discovered that he had not only produced the desired effect on his whiskers, but his face also bore the appearance of a piebald monstrosity. He washed it and rubbed it, and washed it again; but the more profuse the ablution, the blacker he became. At last, maddened with despair, he rushed into the room where Jackson was calmly and systematically making his toilet, and, quite prepared for such a visit, received his victim with cool collectedness peculiar to himself, the risibility of his muscles never disturbing his philosophy.

"Here, Jackson! here, look what this infernal dye has done for me!" exclaimed Vainboy. "How could you recommend me such awful stuff?" his countenance betraying sentiments of suspicion that Jackson was aware what the effect of the application would be.

"Good God!" replied Jackson, apparently greatly disturbed, yet scarcely able to suppress laughter. "Why, I told you to wet your whiskers, not your skin, with the liquid. How could you apply it in such profusion? You should have allowed it to become dry before you bandaged up your physiognomy. You an artist too, and not to know that if you lay on black where you ought to apply white you were likely to spoil your painting! You did not follow my instructions. It is just like you, always running into excesses."

"What must I do to get it off? I cannot exhibit myself in this plight," said Vainboy, mournfully.

"You cannot get it off by any means that I am aware of," said Jackson, with a degree of indifference almost insulting. "Really you would make an excellent subject for exhibition. The only thing I can recommend you to do is to consult Madame Leora; she may know of some means of restoring your beauty."

Madame Leora and her husband kept an extensive establishment for

the sale of bijouterie of all descriptions, and being very amusing and facetious persons, were well patronized. Madame was a remarkably pretty woman, with all the fascinating graces of her sex and country. Leora, too, had a wonderful taste for sporting, and exceedingly jealous of his wife, but without the slightest cause. Their emporium was a fashionable lounge; and thither Vainboy hastened with all imaginable speed. To disclose his unhappy condition to her was a subject of great discomfiture to him; yet he had no other alternative. "Madame," said he, "you see the horrid condition of my face; can you do me the inestimable kindness to tell me how I can restore it to its natural complexion?"

66 Ah, mon Dieu !" exclaimed madame. "Oh, pauvre Monsieur Vainboy! what has some one do to you face?"

The tale was soon told, though Vainboy was unwilling to implicate Jackson, fearing the joke, if joke it was, would be strengthened by doing so; but women are so inquisitive, and madame was not free from that feeling.

"And where you buy dis diable stuff, Monsieur Vainboy? You no buy it here."

Vainboy was compelled to inform her that it was purchased at the chemists late last night, and that Jackson had directed what it was to be composed of.

"Monsieur Jackson," said the little French woman. "Ah, he do such trick. He serve my husband von trick; but he no do no ting for me. He lend my husband von horse; and he too, full of de trick, throw him off, when Monsieur Jackson laugh, and say, 'Oh, Monsieur Leora, it all your fault; you not take hold of de horse by de head.' My husband say, 'Vat you mean? me take hold of him by de ears? dat you may laugh again, and say me no jockey, because me not ride von tetotum.' Me vill, Monsieur Vainboy-me sall gif you some costmetique make you look charment."

The cosmetique was applied with great assiduity; it materially reduced the sombre tint, but not entirely extracting it, gave Vainboy something the appearance of a blue-faced monkey.

(To be continued.)

NOTES OF AN ANGLER ABROAD.

(Continuation.)

A year or two after my visit to Bohemia, recorded in the August number of last year, my former companion and I again found ourselves on the way to Carlsbad, with the same object as heretofore. But how different was the transit! the modern railway had driven the lumbering eilwagen from its road, stripped the journey of its désagrémens, and allowed us to enjoy it without alloy. The railroads of Central Germany do not boast of the celerity of ours; but in comfort, in safety, and in cheapness, they surpass the latter altogether. The second-class car