Tallyho followed in silence till they entered the house, and were greeted by the Landlord at the bar with a bow of welcome; passing quickly to the right, they were saluted with immoderate volumes of smoke, conveying to their olfactory nerves the refreshing fumes of tobacco, and almost taking from them the power of sight, except to observe a bright flame burning in the middle of the room. Tom darted forward, and knowing his way well, was quickly seated by the side of Merrywell, Mortimer, and Harry; while Tallyho was seen by those who were invisible to him', groping his way in the same direction, amidst the laughter of the company, occasionally interlarded with scraps which caught his ear from a gentleman who was at the moment reading some of the comments from the columns of the Courier, in which he made frequent pauses and observations. ~284~~ “Why, you can't see yourself for smoke,” said one; “D------n it how hard you tread,” said another. And then a line from the Reader came as follows--“The worthy Alderman fought his battles o'er again--Ha, ha, ha--Who comes here 1 upon my word, Sir, I thought you had lost your way, and tumbled into the Woolpack instead of the Skin-market.--' It is a friend of mine, Sir.'--That's a good joke, upon my soul; not arrived yet, why St. Martin's bells have been ringing all day; perhaps he is only half-seas over--Don't tell me, I know better than that--D------n that paper, it ought to be burnt by--The fish are all poison'd by the Gas-light Company--Six weeks imprisonment for stealing two dogs!--Hides and bark--How's sugars to-day?--Stocks down indeed--Yes, Sir, and bread up--Presto, be gone--What d'ye think of that now, eh?--Gammon, nothing but gammon--On table at four o'clock ready dressed and--Well done, my boy, that's prime.” These sentences were uttered from different parts of the room in almost as great a variety of voices as there must have been subjects of conversation; but as they fell upon the ear of Tallyho without connection, he almost fancied himself transported to the tower of Babel amidst the confusion of tongues. “Beg pardon,” said Tallyho, who by this time had gained a seat by his Cousin, and was gasping like a turtle for air--“I am not used to this travelling in the dark; but I shall be able to see presently.” “See,” said Frank Harry, “who the devil wants to see more than their friends around them? and here we are _at home to a peg_.” ~285~~ “I shall have finished in two minutes, Gentlemen,” said the Reader,{1} cocking up a red nose, that shone with resplendent lustre between his spectacles, and then continuing to read on, only listened to by a few of those around him, while a sort of general buz of conversation was indistinctly heard from all quarters.