“Been, my dear?” replied the General, in a tone of softness contrasting strangely with the flushed and vehement bearing of his outward man; “at that--(no, I will _not_ swear)--at that doubly accursed farm. Would you believe the infernal stupidity of the people--(excuse me, Mrs. Delaval)--men with heads on their shoulders, and hair, and front teeth like other people--and they’ve sent the black bull to Bubbleton without winkers--without winkers, as I live by bread; but I won’t be answerable for the consequences,--no, I won’t make good any damages originating in such carelessness; no, not if there’s law in England or justice under heaven! But, my sweet Blanche,” added the General, in a tone of amiable piano, the more remarkable for the forte of his previous observations, “I’ll go and get ready this instant, my darling; you shan’t be disappointed; I’ll order the pony-carriage forthwith. Holloa! you, sir; only let me catch you--only let me catch you, that’s all; I’ll trounce you as sure as my name’s Bounce!” and the General, without waiting for any further explanation, darted off in pursuit of an idle village boy, whom he espied in the very act, _flagrante delicto_, of trespassing on a pathway which the lord of the manor had been several years vainly endeavouring to shut up. General Bounce was such a medley as can only be produced by the action of a tropical sun on a vigorous, sanguine Anglo-Saxon temperament. Specimens are becoming scarcer every day. They are seldom to be met with in our conventional and well-behaved country, though here and there, flitting about a certain club celebrated for its curries, they may be discovered even in the heart of the metropolis. On board transports, men-of-war, mail-steamers, and such-like government conveyances, they are more at home; in former days they were occasionally visible inside our long coaches, where they invariably made a difficulty about the window; but in the colonies they are to be seen in their highest state of cultivation; as a general rule, the hotter the climate, the more perfect the specimen.