THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. ii 



the neighbouring farmers by joining them in 

 many a hvely rat-hunt among their stacks and 

 barns ; in bohing rabbits, too, from their over- 

 stocked hedges he had ever readily lent a useful 

 hand, doing them a substantial service, and 

 treating himself to a labour of love. 



This sport, however, such as it was, did not 

 long satisfy the boy's aspirations. He was now 

 sixteen vears of age, and craved daily, as he 

 said, "for the ding-dong of hounds," a music 

 to which, by nature, his ear had been so hnely 

 attuned. A schoolfellow of his own standing, 

 called Bob Bovev, appears also to have had a 

 strong strain of hunting-blood in his veins ; and 

 hearing Russell's oft-expressed wish to keep a 

 few hounds, he came to him one day, and 

 despite the danger of doing so, proposed to 

 join him in starting a pack. 



Accordingly, the two boys, forming a joint 

 mastership, were very soon able to muster a 

 scratch lot, consisting of four and a half couple 

 of hounds, which they kept at a blacksmith's on 

 the outskirts of Tiverton town. The worthy 

 Vulcan must have been a kindred spirit, for he 

 seems not only to have given up a linhay adjoin- 

 ing the forge for the use of the hounds, but to 

 have run the risk of incurring Dr. Richard's 

 displeasure and losing his custom, solely for the 

 love of hunting, and the sheer sake of promot- 

 ing the sport. 



