I50 RADNOR REMINISCENCES 



hounds met there, while to-day it was soft, much too soft; 

 in fact so squashy that Laurie Bodine had to call his field 

 of sixty- two around him and deliver quite an oration on the 

 subject, during which one could hear hounds in covert 

 speaking to a line, and I 'm afraid a good many of his fol- 

 lowing had their ears pinned back and eyes turned towards 

 the wood from which was coming the cry of hounds. 



Every one always did go to Sam Kirk's breakfast, and 

 everyone with his wife went to-day, even if it did look as if 

 it might pour any minute. There was lots to eat, and lots 

 of good farmer friends to say "how-de" to. 



Hounds moved off promptly at eleven, three packs, 

 Kirk's, Stuart's, and Radnor, about forty-two couples all 

 told. The first draw, William Evans's meadow, being 

 blank, hounds moved on up-country to the Malvern Bar- 

 rens, when Clyde John and Dr. Evans, who were motoring 

 along the Sugartown Road, viewed a fox out the upper end 

 of the covert and holloaed to us; at the same instant hounds 

 picked up his line and Dr. Evans, taking off his hat, waved 

 them on across the meadow to the road, over it, and then 

 it was anybody's race from there on. 



Hounds ran straight up to the Rush Hospital meadows, 

 swung sharply left-handed through the swamp, keeping 

 Mr. Coxe's house on their left, and, crossing the back road 

 to Goshenville, ran down-country nearly to Rocky Hill, 

 then, turning right-handed again, they ran clean away 

 from us and we had a fast, muddy gallop on the roads for 

 about twenty-five minutes, when every one became per- 

 fectly plastered with mud from head to toes. Personally, 

 I was a mess, one eye full of stones and shut tight, mouth 

 full of clay, and hounds clear out of sight and hearing — I 

 forgot my ears; they were full of mud, too. I brought home 

 a splendid lot of Chester County with me, quite my share. 



