It came about in this
way. Of an evening many sportsmen would assemble at the house of
Lord Rufton, where they would drink much wine, make wild bets,
and talk of their horses and their foxes. How well I remember
those strange creatures. Sir Barrington, Jack Lupton, of
Barnstable, Colonel Addison, Johnny Miller, Lord Sadler, and my
enemy, the Honourable Baldock. They were of the same stamp all
of them, drinkers, madcaps, fighters, gamblers, full of strange
caprices and extraordinary whims. Yet they were kindly fellows
in their rough fashion, save only this Baldock, a fat man, who
prided himself on his skill at the box-fight. It was he who, by
his laughter against the French because they were ignorant of
sport, caused me to challenge him in the very sport at which he
excelled. You will say that it was foolish, my friends, but the
decanter had passed many times, and the blood of youth ran hot in
my veins. I would fight him, this boaster; I would show him that
if we had not skill at least we had courage.
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