Apoplexy! What
has he got already?--gout, asthma, heart disease, his lungs giving way,
his liver in a frightful condition, his nervous system gone to bits--and
yet, all the same, the old hypocrite is going to try for a stag before
he leaves. I suppose he'll want Roderick to carry him as soon as he
quits the pony! Well, come along, Mr. Moore; we've done pretty well so
far, I think."
But it was not Lionel who needed any incitement to go forward; he was
far more eager than any of his companions, now that he had been
acquitting himself none so ill. Moreover, he had youth on his side and a
sound chest, while nature had not given him a pair of well-formed calves
for nothing; so that he faced the steep hillsides or got over the rough
ground with comparative ease, rejoicing the while in the unwonted
freedom of knickerbockers. It was Sir Hugh, with his bulky habit of
body, who got blown now and again; as for Captain Waveney, he was a
pretty tough subject and wiry. So they fought bravely on, to atone for
the inhuman detention of the morning; and by the time it was necessary
to make for the appointed luncheon rendezvous they had the wherewithal
to give a very excellent account of themselves.
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