HEROES OF THE HUNTING-FIELD 127 



every liard-riding sportsman — a broken neck to one, 

 a gradual decline from old age for another. The 

 career of Thomas Assheton Smith was long and 

 glorious, and its finish cannot be better described 

 than in the account given by Sir J. E. E. Wilmot of 

 ^ Assheton Smith's Last Hunt ' : ' He had been very 

 ill all the morning, and was threatened with one of 

 his fainting attacks, when, looking up in agony into 

 his wife's face, he gasped out, " I am going." 

 Nevertheless, brandy, ether, and other stimulants 

 revived him. About an hour after, the hounds 

 arrived, Colonel Douglas Pennant's beagles, and, 

 much to the astonishment and dismay of all about 

 him, he crawled, with the help of his valet and 

 butler, to the hall-door, and was soon in the saddle. 

 Once there he looked ten years younger. Observing 

 a horse belonging to Colonel Pennant which he 

 fancied, he dismounted from his own, and, though 

 told the other was rather restive, he determined to 

 mount it and follow the hounds. His groom had 

 strict orders to keep very close to him with a vial 

 of brandy in his pocket. Some anxious friends 

 followed on foot, and from a piece of high ground 

 watched his movements. They were soon terrified 

 by seeing him thrown off. He was not hurt, and 

 wished to continue the chase, saying " it was curious 

 how he had lost his gripe on a horse," which he 

 always said was the secret of his riding ; but at last 

 was persuaded to return home in the carriage. 



