304 "JOVIAL HUNTSMEN": 



we shall hardly want a "Hunt dinner" while the 

 holidays last ! 



There is no time of year when fox-hunting is so 

 popular as this. In an open winter we who dwell in a 

 hunting country cannot help wondering what substitute 

 exists in less favoured localities for the sport and uni- 

 versal good-fellowship which the hunting-field affords. 

 What else could bring together the troops of boys and 

 girls to delight us as they assemble at the meets with 

 their radiant happiness and amuse us with tales of the 

 prowess of each tiny steed ? Twice a week the trusty 

 pony is certain to be brought out if the fixtures are at 

 all convenient, and the M.F.H. is pretty sure to arrange 

 that they shall be tolerably central during holiday- 

 time. Here the youth of the countryside have a 

 chance of meeting and forming friendships which may 

 last a lifetime — and friendships formed in the hunting- 

 field seem to have an enduring quality. 



In all countries at Christmas-time dances and social 

 reunions prevail when the short winter's day is over ; 

 but in the hunting country the partners often meet 

 again the day after the ball ; and when evening falls 

 they do not find it difficult to decide between the 

 merits of a gallop on the boards or one over the 

 grass. Hunting folk are always hospitable, it appears 

 to me ; and there is a give-and-take hospitality con- 

 nected with the chase which is very refreshingly 

 genuine. Brown, who lives at the far end of the 

 country, sends his man with a couple of horses to 

 you the night before the meet which is near your 

 door, and fully expects that you will do the same by 

 him when hounds are in his part of the world, and 



