His Grace — page 203: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER XVI. NONE OF MY BUSINESS. Ir is generally accounted a creditable thing in any man that he should be a good loser, and the self- command which enables its possessor to meet disaster with a composed smile is, no doubt, a quality which deserves some admiration ; still I must say that it was not a little provoking to a sober, commonplace person like myself to see my best friend diligently and cheer- fully pounding his head against a brick wall. The wall was so evidently harder than his head that it was difficult to understand where the fun of the encounter came in, and I couldn’t help saying as much to him. “Tt is all very fine,” I remarked, “to refrain from crying when you are hurt; but I really don’t see why you should laugh about it.” “T laugh, my dear boy,” he returned, ‘“ because Iam not beat yet. When I am, we'll sit down on the floor, side by side, and stuff our fists into our eyes, if that will relieve your overcharged feelings; for the present it won’t doeither you or me any harm to anticipate a victory at Sandown.” This was a few days after Ascot. Things had come to sucha pass that no victory, at Sandown or elsewhere, was likely to set him upon his legs again; but perhaps, Eomichoo cS (Elo) m