CHAPTER XIX. 

"IS IT TANTI?" 

Reginald Morton entertained serious thoughts of cleansing himself from the reproach which Larry cast upon him when describing his character to his mother. "I think I shall take to hunting," he said to Mary. 

"But you'll tumble off, dear." 

"No doubt I shall, and I must try to begin in soft places. I don't see why I shouldn't do it gradually in a small way. I shouldn't ever become a Nimrod, like Lord Rufford or your particular friend Mr. Twentyman." 

"He is my particular friend." 

"So I perceive. I couldn't shine as he shines, but I might gradually learn to ride after him at a respectful distance. A man at Rome ought to do as the Romans do." 

"Why wasn't Hoppet Hall Rome as much as Bragton?" 

"Well;--it wasn't. While fortune enabled me to be happy at Hoppet Hall--" 

"That is unkind, Reg." 

"While fortune oppressed me with celibate misery at Hoppet Hall, nobody hated me for not hunting;--and as I could not very well afford it, I was not considered to be entering a protest against the amusement. As it is now I find that unless I consent to risk my neck at any rate five or six times every winter, I shall be regarded in that light." 

"I wouldn't be frightened into doing anything I didn't like," said Mary. 

"How do you know that I shan't like it? The truth is I have had a letter this morning from a benevolent philosopher which has almost settled the question for me. He wants me to join a society for the suppression of British sports as being barbarous and antipathetic to the intellectual pursuits of an educated man. I would immediately shoot, fish, hunt and go out ratting, if I could hope for the least success. I know I should never shoot anything but the dog and the gamekeepers, and that I should catch every weed in the river; but I think that in the process of seasons I might jump over a hedge." 
Why did he not do so?
 I could not very well afford it