FOX-HUNTING TYPES 225 



than ever, but soon begin to twist and turn very 

 decidedly, and we can see a lot of their work. Soon 

 the chase ends : ends with the death of the fox, or 

 at the open earth which has saved his well-earned 

 life — what matter ? It has been a good run, and 

 what a lot of it we old folk have seen ! 



" 'Tis triumph all, and joy " to finish in sight of 

 hounds the end of a fine pursuit. Nor does our 

 pleasure end here. We have to talk it all over on 

 our way home, and again over wine and w^alnuts 

 after dinner, maybe to measure it on the ordnance 

 map in the smoking-room after that again. Then the 

 humours of the chase spring to mind ; the croppers 

 we viewed, the funking and the craning ; the 

 decorative legends of Jones, who arrived ten minutes 

 after the finish ; also Smith's imaginative anecdotes 

 as to the powers of his "little brown horse." We 

 notice little talk about the hounds among the young 

 ones ; but we can have our say about their doings, 

 for we can assuredly claim to have seen "more of 

 them than most." 



Well, has it been a pleasant day ? I think so ! A 

 healthy one? I am sure of it! "Toil just sufficient 

 to make slumber sweet," — toil that will but prolong 

 the life even of an old 'un, for no men preserve 

 their mental and bodily faculties so long as those 

 who are constantly in the saddle, and do not let a 

 passing ailment put an end to their riding. How 

 numerous are the proofs of this ! Think of Mr. 

 Robert Watson, M.F.H., riding over the biggest 

 country in Ireland, horn at saddle-bow, in his 

 eighty-fourth year! And read in Colonel Anstru- 



Hounds, Gentlemen, Please. \Q 



