176 MEMOIR OF 



slow to observe that over the Tetcott and 

 Broadbury districts loomed ominous clouds, 

 which portended a break-up of the present 

 arrangements, as well as probably an extensive 

 change in the landmarks of his country. Nor 

 was he kept long in suspense ; for on Friday 

 the 13th of November his pack met at Five 

 Oaks for the last time under the old regime. A 

 glorious finale, however, crowned the event ; he 

 killed a brace of foxes, the first in fifty minutes 

 and the next at the end of a long dodging run, 

 in which by the manner he handled his hounds 

 Russell's woodcraft was eminently displayed. 



The circumstances that led to the change 

 were complicated. In the first place the country 

 was much too large for the means at command ; 

 for, owing to the ardent support of the yeomen- 

 farmers, far and wide, foxes had largely increased 

 throughout the land ; consequently the damage 

 fund and the expense of feeing the keepers, etc., 

 rising proportionately, the sum total amounted 

 soon to a serious charge on an exchequer too 

 often inconveniently straitened and never over- 

 flowing. This, perhaps, may be considered the 

 root of the matter. But there was also a 

 general suspicion among Russell's friends that 

 jealousy had a finger in the pie ; and that that 

 feeling, intensified by the impression that the 

 country was insufficiently hunted, prompted a 

 small party, including the Molesworth Trustees, 



