ANCIENT HISTORY 41 



I had misjudged by a few yards, were able to cross 

 without difficulty. 



Firr tells a story which I have no doubt is true, 

 and which he considers the best example of coolness 

 he can remember within his varied experience. 

 Hounds were running fast, and down they came to 

 a brook. On one side of Firr and a few lengths in 

 front, a stranger was riding gallantly at the stream. 

 His horse, however, was not quite of the same mind, 

 and on reachmg the banks swerved suddenly to one 

 side. The man went on, and turning a somersault 

 in the air, disappeared under water. The cele- 

 brated huntsman could not check his horse and 

 sailed over, but while he was in the air a hatless head 

 bobbed up out of the water directly beneath him, 

 and a voice cried " Cuckoo." The remark may not 

 have been very witty, but I think most of us under 

 the circumstances would have been too much afraid 

 of the flashing hoofs above our heads to have said 

 anything. This reminds me of rather an amusing 

 incident which happened to the same huntsman, 

 though it has nothing to do with Leicestershire, but 

 the story borders on the indelicate, and ladies are 

 therefore requested to turn the page unread. 



At that time this huntsman was with some pack 

 in Scotland, and it was their custom to exercise 

 hounds along the seashore in the early morning. 

 It was a wild part of the coast, with no habitation 

 near, and three ladies thought it would be an ex- 

 cellent place to bathe without costumes. The tide 

 had gone out for fully half a mile, and leaving their 

 clothes on shore the ladies proceeded to dip them- 

 selves in the sea. In the midst of their splashings, 

 one of the mermaids turned round and to her dis- 



