THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. 97 



permit him to tell me a tale in which he 

 himself figured as the hero. 



The *' Bold Dragoon " had been turned out 

 in the Yale of Teigngrace ; and crossing the 

 River Teign, then flooded by heavy rains, was 

 leading the pack at a rattling pace in the direc- 

 tion of Ugbrook Park, when the whole field 

 were brought to a sudden check at sight of the 

 " brimming river." 



The ford, known to a few, was now invisible, 

 and the only bridge, more than a mile away, 

 seemed too far to be available. What then was 

 to be done ? The fate of the " Bold Dragoon " 

 was a certainty, if there were no one up to rate 

 the hounds ; and his Colossus mare was scarcely 

 more valued by Templer than that fox. 



''Go for Jew's bridge," shouted a cautious 

 member of the hunt ; "that's our onlv chance 

 for catching the hounds : " and away went the 

 field helter-skelter in that direction ; every man 

 of them except Taylor. 



Seeing a flight of rails close to the river 

 bank, and concluding they were placed there to 

 prevent cattle from crossing the ford, Taylor 

 rode his horse straight at them, thinking to land 

 him,' perhaps, up to his girths on dropping into 

 the stream. But, alas ! the spot proved to be 

 one of the deepest pools in the Teign river : the 

 horse and rider disappeared ; but the latter, 

 having been an expert swimmer at Eton, soon 



H 



