A Sportsman's Christmas 231 



us were expected to ride, as our host was a 

 fox-hunting enthusiast. 



I will pass over Christmas Day, Tuesday, 

 and Wednesday, and narrate my experiences 

 of Thursday night and Friday. I may 

 mention, in passing, that our shoot on 

 Thursday was a success, and we had a 

 capital day's sport ; the total bag I forget, 

 but I know it included three beaters, the 

 pony in the game cart, and a rural postman, 

 who had been up to the house for the letter- 

 bag. The beaters, pony, and postman were 

 all strong runners, and not killed clean by 

 any means ; in fact, the postman was 

 " tailed " rather. Dinner that night was 

 chiefly remarkable for the excellence and 

 prodigious size of the fourth turkey which 

 had graced the board during the week. As 

 a matter of strict accuracy, I may observe 

 that we had lived chiefly upon turkey since 

 Monday. Turkey for breakfast, turkey for 



