The Argosy — page 87: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

76 lhny Did Charie Hardup Go to Ascot? occasional sacrifice of a flower detached from her bouquet, a good- looking, though in other respects wholly unprofitable addition to the long list of her admirers. | Such transient glimpses of Paradise, however, were not enough for Charlie. A chance pressure of the hand, or a stereotyped smile of recognition in the ‘‘ Row,” were doubtless very soothing to his feelings, and made him happy for the rest of the day; but with all his ingenuity he had not as yet succeeded in finding a favourable moment for the disclosure of his love. Ascot, he thought, would be the place of all others for his intended purpose. He had heard from her own lips that she was to accompany her father thither, and it would be hard indeed if in the course of the day he could not manage to speak to her alone. It was no very difficult matter for him to procure the requisite ‘Open Sesame” to the royal enclosure ; and having, by dint of a little persuasion, obtained from his chief the no less necessary per- mission to absent himself from the duties of his office, he arrived on the eventful morning at Waterloo, exactly as the train, bearing with it la dame de ses pensées and her party, steamed slowly from the station. | It may here be incidentally mentioned that one of the most im- portant features of the Ascot meeting in the year to which our story relates was considered to be a match between the hitherto almost unbeaten Prince Georgie and Ramilies, a horse belonging to a popular French sportsman, M. Legrand. ‘The result of this struggle being still fresh in the memory of all votaries of the turf, we need only refer the uninitiated who are particular about dates to that excel- lent manual the “ Racing Calendar.” As has been said, however, Charlie was far from sharing the keen anticipations of his fellow passengers as to the issue of this or any other item of the pro- gramme. Huis thoughts, occupied solely with one object, had nothing in common with their “tips” and fancies. And though he listened mechanically to the pro and con arguments of those around him, and strove politely to feign an interest in their conflicting opinions, it may safely be asserted that at the end of his journey he was not—as regarded the subject of their discussions—one atom the wiser. When he had reached his destination, breasted the hill, and entered the enclosure, the first race had already been run. The lawn, thronged with a more than usually numerous assemblage of pretty women, resplendent in the gayest and most becoming toilettes, formed a picture which certainly merited a more admiring appreciation than that bestowed on it by the new comer. With an air of ill- concealed impatience he made his way among the different groups, rapidly scrutinising each face as he passed, until, at the extreme corner near the railing, he suddenly beheld her of whom he was in search. Not, as he had hoped, alone, but engaged in earnest conver- sation with a young man standing beside her; and, to judge from the familiarity of his manner, evidently on intimate terms with his fair COPMICLMOOO KS COL