WHEN THE MARQUIS CAME INTO 

 HIS OWN 



THERE was a 'southerly wind and a 

 cloudy skj^ and the ground was moist 

 with dew,' but there would be no hunt- 

 ing in Fairfax County that morning. 

 The hounds complained bitterly behind closed 

 kennel doors, they could feel the scent in the 

 air, and blanketed hunters kicked in their stalls 

 and neighed. Something most untoward must 

 have happened, when on a day like that, the 

 hills did not echo and re-echo with the sound of 

 the huntsman's horn, but all was quiet as night. 



There was hardly a sign of life except where 

 one old pensioner hound nosed about in a field 

 near the stable, fancying he had got up a rabbit 

 and gave a short yelp now and then. 



In truth something unusual had happened, for 

 in another part of the stable a Torchlight foal had 

 been born. And Torchlight foals are not born 

 every day, even in Virginia. So that day there 

 would be no hunting, though a fox should come 

 bark at the door, and instead Fullerton, the 'Vet," 

 115 



