THE MEADOW BROOK 



called upon to live in front of the galloping hundreds of the Quom or Pytch- 

 ley, or, for that matter, of many another pack. As we rode to the meet, I 

 wondered as I glanced forward, what proportion, or if even a substratum, of 

 truth lay in the comforting words of the Master. ' Very big and gaunt these 

 fences look,' 1 remarked, adding, with a jauntiness I was far from feeling, 

 'but they say the horses here jump well enough.' ' Oh, you'll find some rails 

 down or a gap in almost every one,' he answered, and 1 believed him as the 

 artless miner believed the heathen Chinee. But see, what is he doing now? 

 Where are the rails down, and where is the gap? Six foot of timber, surely, 

 and he is within three strides, both ears cocked and both spurs in. Nay, I 

 will lower six inches, but never another inch, an I have to prove it at pistol 

 point. Well, it was death or degradation now and no time to balance the 

 account, so I gave the old horse a strong pull, gripped him tight between my 

 nervous knees, chose my panel some three lengths from my instigator and sat 

 still for the result. Rugged and awful loomed the ponderous top rail on a 

 level with my horse's ears, one of which — ill omen — was twinkhng toward 

 the exemplar on our right. A moment more and we seemed right under 

 the frowning barricade, then a hoist, a bang, a prolonged quiver, but no fall, 

 though a yard of turf was ploughed up, and the demonstrator turned quietly 

 in his saddle for a smile and a word of encouragement." 



Mr. Griswold was succeeded in 1896 by Mr. Ralph N. Ellis, under 

 whose management the Hunt flourished for six years. Mr. Ellis is a strong 

 believer in American hounds, and toward the latter part of his Mastership he 

 brought his own pack of American hounds into the country, kenneling them a 

 few miles away from the Club and taking them out two days a week after foxes. 



While the experiment was not wholly successful, it gave the followers of 

 the Meadow Brook drag a zest for the "real thing," and fox-hunting was 

 established as one of the regular pursuits, a certain element preferring it to 

 the more exciting occupation of drag-hunting. Mr. Ellis resigned as Master 

 at the end of the season of 1 902, and Mr. Foxhall P. Keene was elected 

 in his place. Much of the early history of the Meadow Brook which is here 

 written is taken from an article on hunting written by Mr. Ellis in 1 90 1 . 



With the coming of Mr. Keene as M. F. H., a new system began at 



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