SEASON 1872-73 51 



Chaplin, with Harry Horton as huntsman ; and 

 directly he met Gillard in the central ride he tried 

 to pull him by the leg : " It's all right, Frank, we've 

 killed our fox after a rattling good gallop ! " 

 "Yes," replied Gillard, "he looked very stiff, but 

 your hounds have not killed him." "Well, we 

 soon shall, for they have just marked him to 

 ground in the covert," went on the master, de- 

 termined not to be bested. " I'm afraid they won't 

 do that," replied Gillard, "for there is only one 

 earth in the covert, that's artificial and stopped 

 safe enough. I'm afraid you've made a mistake 

 and been running some of those old hares, for we 

 killed your fox stiff as a stake half an hour ago. " 



In a good gallop during December the Melton 

 brook was crossed, and Colonel the Hon. H. H. 

 Forester, one of the fathers of the hunt, went in 

 for total immersion. He was known to his 

 intimate friends as " the Lad " on account of his 

 sprightly appearance, and over a country was 

 hard to beat, though somewhat handicapped by 

 wearing glasses. Especially is this the case in 

 foggy or wet weather when it is almost impossible 

 to see at all with the glasses dimmed by mist, and 

 on one occasion the Colonel set his horse at an 

 unjumpable fence, which he refused in the last 

 stride, much to the surprise of the rider. 



The visit of the Prince of Wales to Belvoir as 

 the guest of the Duke of Rutland makes this 

 season a memorable one, for he enjoyed three days' 

 sport with hounds on the Leicestershire and 

 Lincolnshire side of the country. On March 5th 



