AUTUMN DAYS 



kennels at Badminton. Tom Clark's day was 

 over, for he could no longer ride to his hounds. In 

 handling the pack he had become nervous and 

 hesitatino-, and he himself felt the time had come 

 for retirement. Lord Worcester, who was growing 

 up, was marked out by his position and aptitude to 

 take a leading place in the hunt. The Duke had 

 not failed to note how keenly his son was interested 

 in the hounds, and how competent he was to take 

 the horn. 



It is probable that neither father nor son foresaw 

 they were beginning a period that will be ever 

 memorable in the history of fox-hunting. But the 

 Duke gave Lord Worcester the horn when Clark 

 retired in 1868, and the success of the plan was 

 immediate. In his very first season the young 

 huntsman — he was then just of age — had great 

 success, and there was a marked improvement in 

 the sport. Yet it must not be forgotten, in justice 

 to the memory of the late Duke and Tom Clark, 

 that the pack had been raised to a high pitch of ex- 

 cellence, and the entry of that season was very good. 



Lord Worcester was now leading a very full life. 

 He was at once a subaltern of the Royal Horse 

 Guards and huntsman to his father's hounds. In 

 fulfilment of these two different lines of duty, his 

 time was much taken up. Yet he, like his father 

 before him, carried out his plans with energy and 

 thoroughness. The severest critics a huntsman can 

 have are his hounds. They know much about him, 



259 



