132 MwQB ot tbe If^itnttna-ftelt) 



in his rear, into which he fell plump, his face to his 

 friends and his back to the blackthorn bayonets of the 

 ambushed foe. The agony of the moment made him 

 forget the proper word of command. His men, delighted 

 with the fun produced by their captain's ludicrous posi- 

 tion, came on with their bayonets levelled at his face. 

 At last he remembered the word. 



' Halt, and be damned to you ! ' he thundered. The 

 company, of course, obeyed, but not very steadily, as 

 privates, non-commissioned officers, ensign and lieuten- 

 ant, were all in fits of laughter, in which Musters at last 

 heartily joined. 



Jack's father had, in the year 1770, bought Lord 

 Richard Manners Sutton's hounds, and removing them 

 from Kelham, had hunted with them what is now the 

 South Notts country. In 1798 he made over to his son, 

 then aged one-and-twenty, a portion of the country, and 

 set him up with a contribution of ten couples from his 

 own kennels. The fact was, that father and son could 

 not get on together in the hunting-field. Jack was too 

 impatient and impetuous for his sire, who belonged to 

 the steady old pottering school. ' Damn you, keep 'em 

 on,' he was perpetually shouting to the huntsman and 

 whips, when he thought the old squire was out of ear- 

 shot ; but sometimes the latter overheard these mutinous 

 remarks, and would shout back angrily, ' Let 'em alone, 

 they're mjy hounds j/el.' It was, therefore, just as well 

 for the sake of family concord that Jack was allowed to 

 set up for himself and hunt his own hounds in his own 

 way, with none to hinder him. But though the two 

 agreed to differ in their theories of sport, the old man 

 was immensely proud of his handsome athletic son, 

 and, undoubtedly, spoiled him. 



