* * * * *

"INNINGS DECLARED CLOSED."

SCENE--_Grounds of the St. Stephen's C.C. SALISBURY
(Captain) and BALFOUR (Champion Bat) at Wickets. The latter
has just despatched the ball to the boundary for "another
four," eliciting "applause all round the ring," as the
(Cricket) saying is._

_Captain_. Well hit, my dear ARTHUR!

_Champion Bat_ (_modestly_). Ah! bit of a fluke.

_Captain_. Come, come! Cricket swagger may merit rebuke,
But take your fair _kudos_; don't run yourself down.

_Wicket-Keeper_ (_aside_). Bah! that's his old trick. At the ball he
will frown,
And fumble the bat as though funk, or don't care,
Filled his soul; but when slogging's the game he's all there.
Mere posing, not playing the game,--yet he _scores_!
I wonder how WILL likes the ring's frantic roars
At their flashy young favourite?

_Bowler_ (_aside_). Humph! he lays on!
I did hope, with that ball, that his wicket was gone.
'Twas a curly one, one of my regular old sort.
Good batting _and_ bowling, that's true Cricket sport,
As CLARKE, Grand Old Trundler, declared was the case