1 6 RIDING 



the right place, spreading himself "as he does so, yet withal land- 

 ing with hind legs well under him, ready in a moment for a 

 second effort, should false ground or trap lurk concealed by the 

 blackthorn. Can this be the animal that, ere he came into his 

 present owner's hands, had the character of a bold but some- 

 what rash horse, and a trifle inclined to chance it both as to 

 distance and height of jumping ? Endued with some marvellous 

 instinct, our customer seems rarely if ever to come down to a 

 big place ; as he lands in each field the exact spot where he is to 

 leave it reveals itself as by magic ; the narrowest part of the 

 ditch, the weakest binders, the lowest rails, lie right in his line 

 though falls are beginning to be numerous, and steeds who take 

 some getting down may be seen galloping riderless or with 

 besmirched head-stalls. 



'Oh dear! oh "dear! where do they find these dreadful 

 places? /never come across them,' said Lord Wilton (the 

 father of the present peer), with his usual deprecatory moan, 

 on hearing, during a dinner at Egerton Lodge, some of his 

 guests narrating their deeds of valour. No one had a better 

 right to express such surprise, for, as far as the spectator could 

 judge, Lord Wilton never went out of a canter, and never 

 jumped a big place, though, , however fast and far hounds ran, 

 he was always with than. 



. Neither must it be supposed that our pioneer disdains the 

 occasional accommodation of a gate. Not he ! he sees in. a 

 moment if hounds falter sufficiently they have never really 

 checked to allow of his opening one, and then it is done in a 

 moment ; deftly is the crook of his whip slipped under the 

 latch, and with a clean backward sweep of the arm, or a well- 

 timed push of his hunter's chest, the timber flies open, a quick 

 'Have you got it?' jerked over his shoulder to a possible 

 follower he does not stop to see, for a run such as this hardly 

 admits of the nicer courtesies and away he goes again, con- 

 gratulating himself that the ' puff of wind ' thus obtained may 

 be worth a quarter of a mile at the finish. Once, and once 

 only, do we see him apparently go out of his way to court 



