A NEW SCHEME [Illustration] Our friend Soapey was now in good feather; he had got a large price for his good-for-nothing horse, with a very handsome bonus for not getting him back, making him better off than he had been for some time.

Gentlemen of his calibre are generally extremely affluent in everything except cash.
They have bills without end--bills that nobody will touch, and book debts in abundance--book debts entered with metallic pencils in curious little clasped pocket-books, with such utter disregard of method that it would puzzle an accountant to comb them into anything like shape.
It is true, what Mr.Sponge got from Mr.Waffles were bills--but they were good bills, and of such reasonable date as the most exacting of the Jew tribe would 'do' for twenty per cent.

Mr.Sponge determined to keep the game alive, and getting Hercules and Multum in Parvo together again, he added a showy piebald hack, that Buckram had just got from some circus people who had not been able to train him to their work.
The question now was, where to manoeuvre this imposing stud--a problem that Mr.Sponge quickly solved.
Among the many strangers who rushed into indiscriminate friendship with our hero at Laverick Wells, was Mr.Jawleyford, of Jawleyford Court, in -- --shire.

Jawleyford was a great humbug.

He was a fine, off-hand, open-hearted, cheery sort of fellow, who was always delighted to see you, would start at the view, and stand with open arms in the middle of the street, as though quite overjoyed at the meeting.