Frank Beers, Huntsman. 107 



great relief. We then ran past Castle Dykes, 

 through the Everdon end of the Stubbs, along the 

 flat to Snorscombe and into Hen Wood. We 

 were lucky again ; hounds ran into Mantel's Heath, 

 and things looked very rosy. 



Going down the w^ood side, the covert on our 

 right, we planned the death of ' Bob.' George 

 was to get hold of the pack, and go down wind 

 side of Knightley Wood — we knew it was '' full of 

 foxes," as they say — I went, no faster than I could 

 help, up to the bridle-gate at the Farthingstone 

 corner. In a minute the fox came away, loping 

 over the field like a wolf, but I noticed that he was 

 languid and leg-weary ; I watched him out of the 

 field ; George and the hounds were soon at him. 



"What do you think of him, master?" Beers 

 asked me. 1 answered unhesitatingly: "He will 

 never reach Seawell ! " and in two fields they 

 killed him. He lay on a bank ; Beers declared 

 that he was the stoutest fox he had killed in the 

 Grafton country. The time was one hour and 

 thirty minutes. I was to have the brush, which 

 measured 3in. by 2^in. 



Beers had two very good runs from Stowe-Nine- 

 Churches in that year. The first was from the 

 Wood to Stowe Hill. The fox ran parallel with the 

 turnpike road to Dray son's, past Bugbrook Downs,. 



