A Sportsman s Christmas 235 



myself as shortly as possible to my own 

 experiences. I'm perfectly certain that the 

 last drop of old Scotch that I drank the 

 night before had disagreed with the claret- 

 cup. My horse was abominably fresh and 

 the saddle very slippery ; in fact, it was 

 terribly elastic, so much so that my mount 

 nearly jumped me clean over his head at 

 the first fence. There were two sets of 

 fences all the way, and the amiable animal I 

 bestrode had four ears and two tails, and I 

 don't know how many feet probably the fine, 

 cold weather brought them on the same as it 

 does Brussels sprouts. Several men remarked 

 that my horse jumped better than he ever 

 did before. My sole remark was that I 

 thought him a very clever hunter, and, by 

 Jove ! I think so still. 



