Giants of the Past 177 



was carried nefn. con.^ and Tom Moody was given 

 his instructions. At three p.m. they drew for their 

 fox, found him, and hounds accounted for him by 

 moonlight. . . . 



I should not make any references to his adven- 

 tures in the field of Love if they were not connected 

 with his adventures in the field of sport. It was 

 said of the Willey Squire that Venus herself could 

 not have kept him by her side. But, though he 

 never married, he always spoke of his offspring as 

 his children and grandchildren, and took care that 

 they were provided for in life. He kept his 

 mistresses openly at Willey, and insisted that they 

 should accompany him in the hunting-field. In 

 fact, he chose them for their horsewomanship as 

 much as for their beauty. The most celebrated 

 was Miss Phoebe Higgs, probably the most reckless 

 horsewoman who ever rode to hounds. She would 

 jump seemingly impossible places, and challenge the 

 Squire and Tom Moody to follow her. On one 

 occasion she confronted the Squire with a loaded 

 pistol, and threatened to shoot him if he did not 

 give her a bigger allowance than he was giving to 

 one of her rivals. The Squire was a wise man, 

 and complied with her request. But Phoebe Higgs 

 was and still has the reputation of having been a 

 good woman. When she was not hunting she 

 devoted her time to visiting — and helping — the poor 

 at Willey. The only portrait of her which I have 

 seen depicts her as a handsome woman, with a 

 daring expression on her face. Phoebe Higgs and 

 the other objects of the Squire's admiration lived in 

 the village, so the Squire had a pavement walk made 

 alongside the drive to the hall, so that the rustic 

 beauties should not wet their ankles. 



George F. Under hi II. 

 N 



