180 THE IMAGE OF WAR 



clattered down the road to the railway arch at Althorp 

 Park Station. 



Hounds had slipped away so suddenly that it was 

 some time ere the long cavalcade on the high-road 

 became aware of the fact, and in that procession I was 

 rather near the tail. Consequently my start this 

 time was as bad as it had been good the first. 



Being a stranger in the land, I am a little doubtful 

 if I give the points correctly. Was it Althorp Station 

 where we first crossed the line ? All I know is that 

 hounds ran fast, twice crossing the line to the south- 

 ward, and once back again under a culvert to the 

 north side, but it was not till we left this always 

 unpleasant accompaniment to fox-hunting that I got 

 fairly on terms with the pack, then fleeting mutely 

 up a bank covered with small enclosures divided by 

 big fences. 



Church Brampton was the name of the village on 

 the bank, I believe, but we left it a little to the right. 

 The fox was pointing towards the dark woods of 

 Harlastone, and fast as hounds ran, he beat them 

 there and saved his brush. But for the good start 

 he had and the doubles at the railway line, he would 

 probably never have got there. 



Five - and - thirty minutes was the time from 

 the find ; and though, truth to tell, I have seen 

 faster, and the country was probably the worst in 

 the hunt, I was quite satisfied with my first gallop 

 with this celebrated pack. 



Eighteen seasons had passed and gone when, by 

 the kindness of a gentleman living in the country, 

 I saw the Pytchley again. " You were doubtless 

 surprised at the changes," says the reader. No ; as 

 a matter of fact I was surprised at the sameness. 



