158 



The Chase 



the shady sides of the hedges rattles under the 

 horses' hoofs as they land, nobody any longer gives 

 it a thought. All such minor considerations are 

 swept into the background by the intoxicating 

 delight of the moment. What glorious excite- 

 ment, worth years of ordinary hum-drum existence ! 

 There is nothing to equal it while it lasts, and 

 those who have never realised its pleasures are 

 sadly to be pitied. How it warms the blood, thrills 

 the frame, and lightens the heart. Given good 

 nerve, good fox, good horse, and who would 

 change with a king ? 



Mrs. Edward Kennard. 



Too Gentle ! 



<^ <:> «^:> 



LADIES are great offenders, and not entirely 

 from their own fault. If they are properly 

 " entered " — that is to say, if they have a relative 

 or friend who knows all about the sport of fox- 

 hunting, and studies how to avoid doing damage 

 to crops, and will pass on his knowledge to them, 

 then all is well. I have noticed that women so 

 educated are quite as thoughtful for hounds, hunt 

 servants, and farmers' interests as any man, if not 

 more so. 



But such women are rather the exception. If 

 an ignorant lad comes out, he will soon get well 

 sworn at if he does stupid things ; but most men 

 are very loath to find fault with women in the 

 hunting-field. Therefore the woman who is not 

 well " entered " has much less chance of learning 

 how to behave from being cursed at large than a 

 man has. 



So it is up to the ladies, I think, to make a point 

 of learning something about hunting, if they mean 



