WHEELS ON THE HILLTOP. o<S9 



individual exploit, while the pursuit freshened and culminated 

 in a horseshoe beneath his feet. It was plain to see how the 

 zealous, the plodders — and these are the men who see sport — 

 brisked up as they approached the wood ; how the dawdlers, 

 the easily discouraged, the ready talkers and the men of chalk, 

 loitered and sauntered after. " Bad fox — not an atom of 

 scent — bother Badby. I'll wait for the afternoon. Where the 

 devil's my fellow with the luncheon ? " — You might almost see 

 them passing the formula one to another. And already they 

 were pulling up, gathering into little knots on the edge of the 

 covert — while at that very moment the birdseye above them 

 lit upon a galloping whip (the smaller brother to him of that 

 denomination now promoted) who raced on beyond, with cap on 

 high, and shrill scream cutting the quiet air. Oh, for a seven- 

 league thong ! Get on ! Hanging about — ye men of little 

 worth and pudding heart — under the hill, are ye not ? Under 

 a cloud always will ye be till fox-hunting and you agree to 

 recognise incompatibility. The plodders, on the other hand, are 

 through, with the twanging horn and the silvery pack (for is 

 not a pack of hounds darting under distant sunlight like 

 nothing so much as a shoal of silver fish in the clear ocean ?). 

 And away into the valley goes the head of the chase with new 

 vigour and fresh -acquired pace. They are more distant as they 

 race down to the Everdon brook — (strong glasses would be 

 useful now — and of course are securely at home). But there 

 is a check, a flurry, a riding up and down on the part of the 

 many — while a dozen or two are galloping onward, and the 

 water is welcoming its own. 



The huntsman, I learn, got in (and — this must be guarded in 

 parenthesis — I do not learn that each and every man who found 

 himself on the right side pulled up at once to offer his help, 

 and his horse, to one of the most popular servants and work- 

 men of the Shires. No, they were at liberty now — and every 

 liberty they took, or Queen's evidence is worth nothing. They 

 had the pack all to themselves, and they rode round and ahead 

 of it — and swore delightedly by their water-jumpers. Indeed, 



