Wise Saws i6i 



mounted, and surrounded by twenty-two couples of 

 " varmint "-looking hounds, watching attentively 

 his every movement ; the whips now and again re- 

 calling some wandering members of the pack, with 

 an occasional and musical cry of " 'Ware horse ! " 

 as some straggler approaches too nearly a fiery and 

 impatient steed, who, in his eagerness to commence 

 the business of the day, is lashing out dangerously 

 with his hind legs ; the arrival of the men on hacks, 

 and carriages of all descriptions — notably a four-in- 

 hand wagonette drawn by four very neat cobs ; 

 ladies mounted on likely-looking nags ; pedestrians, 

 and the usual number of" loafers " who are always to 

 be found at a " meet " — these things, together with a 

 background of evergreens and a merry sunshine, form 

 the materials for a pleasant picture. Add as a 

 further advantageous ingredient an invitation to 

 mount a six-year-old horse of fine form and fashion, 

 whose subsequent performances prove that he makes 

 light of such a trifle as sixteen stone, and you have 

 all the incidents that promise a good time. 



F. F. JVhitehurst. 



Beating Cover ,^7^ ^^^ ^^^ 



IT is a hackneyed enough remark, that both 

 ancient and modern writers make sad work of it 

 when they attempt a description of heaven. To 

 describe a run with fox-hounds is not a much easier 

 task ; but to make the attempt with any other county 

 than Leicestershire in our eye, would be giving a 

 chance away. Let us then suppose ourselves to 

 have been at Ashby Pasture in the Quorn Country, 

 with Mr. Osbaldeston's hounds, in the year 1826, 

 when that pack was at the height of its well-merited 

 celebrity. Let us also indulge ourselves with a fine 



M 



