Mr. Leffington Feels Inspired 



LeflSngton knew that three minutes more at the 

 rate they were going would see the end of the day. 

 To Mr. Leffington, Bagby's barnyard fence looked 

 peculiarly high as he rode at it down the side of a 

 hill, the hounds already swarming over and under 

 it, and he hoped that the Nut-Cracker would feel 

 in a proper frame of mind, for Mr. Leffington had 

 known the other long enough not to have any 

 illusions as to his being made to jump it if he had 

 rather not. But the Nut-Cracker made a clean 

 performance and Mr. Leffington barely had time 

 to get away on the other side before John Rexford 

 landed behind him closely followed by Gwen. 

 The rest of the field came galloping down the hill 

 and seeing that the hounds had already killed, 

 dismounted and came more or less leisurely 

 through the gate. 



Mr. Leffington was busy cutting off the dead 

 fox's brush for Gwen, but he was not to be denied 

 the pleasure of being in at the death as he would 

 have expressed it, and so when John Rexford 

 came over to his wife, lifted her out of the saddle 

 into his arms and she clung to him desperately 

 and Rexford kissed her, — Mr. Leffington watched 

 it all in shameless triumph with an inscrutable 

 smile illumining his lean bronzed face. 



And to this day the Harkaway Hunt does not 

 know, with the exception of Mrs. Leffington, 

 113 



