532 FOX-HOUND, FOREST, AND PRAIRIE. 



very keystone of the arch of robust vigour. Postprandial reflec- 

 tions these — outcome of the satisfied serenity consequent upon 

 a fair day's sport, a satisfactory ride, and a sufficient catering. 

 At such moments the world looks peaceful and unaggressive — 

 as the blue Mediterranean between its squalls. The muser 

 rises, in a measure, to the halcyon frame of mind of Gerald in 

 the White Rose, when he suddenly leaped out of poverty — "the 

 world seemed so lovely," I have had happiness out of hunting. 

 Believe me, I have had more entrancing happiness still in 

 dreaming it over. And why ? Because it keeps one fit, and fit 

 to live, and makes life a thousand times worth living. 



Take this for my Apologia vitw, and come back with me, for 

 a very brief while, to the covertside of Coton. If an old fox and 

 a brace of cubs come scuttling past you, never mind, you are 

 within your rights and have come by the road that the Romans 

 made before the fox took the place of wild boar and wolf. 

 Besides, these freegoing fugitives care nothing for you, and 

 scarcely turn aside. Alas, the whip comes down the tempest 

 like a Will o' the Wisp — bringing many a storm-clad galloper 

 in his wake — and fetches back the couples that we thought to- 

 be the van of the pack. The horn is playing up the wind : and 

 the call of business is elsewhere. On such a day the golden rule 

 of the school of which I am but a humble disciple, viz., " Get 

 away on the back of the first fox that breaks covert," is only to 

 be applied with the help of great luck, and may often, as now, 

 be an impossibility. So we hang about the Park and spinnies 

 for a while, shrug our wet shoulders at one another, and mark 

 who are our neighbours of the day. The following names nearly 

 make up the roster, viz., Mr. E. de C. Oakeley, Mrs. and Miss- 

 Oakeley, Mr. and Miss Hanbury, Capts. Asquith, McCalmont, 

 and Wheeler, Messrs. Angelo, J. Baring, Flint, Gilbert and 

 son, Gillespie-Stainton, Ivens, Loverock, C. Marriott, Muntz., 

 Nicholson, Oldacre, Powell, Schwabe, Young, Watson, and 

 Wedge. 



Finally, we left covert down the gale, and embarked upon the 

 good country of Shawell and Swinford. But, as ill-luck would 



