THE EIGHTH DUKE 



not come. Would Clark send some further par- 

 ticulars, and he would write his article without 

 seeing them. Nothing more is heard till about a 

 fortnight after, when Clark on a Wednesday asked 

 me had I heard from Mr. Horlock. I replied 

 ' No,' and he said ' That is strange ; he has written 

 to Bill Long, and desired him to meet him at the 

 Kennel on Thursday ' — the next day. 



" Now pause a moment. Who is Bill Long ? 

 A huntsman whose whole history Mr. Horlock 

 knew, and who had left me under circumstances 

 with which Mr. Horlock v/as perfectly acquainted. 

 Was it or was it not strange — I might say im- 

 pertinent — of Mr. Horlock to desire my late ser- 

 vant to meet him in my kennel, and yet not write 

 to either me or my huntsman ? I immediately 

 gave orders to Clark, and most positive orders, 

 that neither one nor the other should be admitted 

 in his absence ; and on his expressing a wish to 

 be at home to show the hounds, I desired him to 

 do nothing of the sort, and took him out hunting 

 with me to see Sir Maurice Berkeley's hounds. 

 Now, the first thing Henry Ayris remarked was, 

 ' Oh, Mr. Horlock came to our kennels yesterday. 

 He came after feeding time, too (a sharp trick for 

 an " old Master of Hounds," you will say, Mr. 

 Bell), and I told him both you and the Duke 

 would be out here to-day.' 



" Mr. Horlock arrived at the inn at Badminton 

 at nine at night, not 200 yards from the kennels. 



221 



