240 RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. 



they have hovered for a moment and put down their 

 noses, holding his hand up to warn those behind, a 

 " bit of cheek," as they call this precautionary measure, 

 which he will be made to remember for some days 

 to come ! 



He is not such a fool but that he knows, from ex- 

 perience in the old country, how a little patience at 

 these critical moments makes the whole difference 

 between a good day's sport and a bad. It would be 

 provoking to lose the chance of a gallop now, when 

 he has got such a start, and is riding the best horse 

 in his stable, so he looks anxiously over his shoulder 

 for the huntsman, who is "coming," and stands fifty 

 yards aloof, which he considers a liberal allowance, that 

 the hounds may have space to swing. 



To-day there is a good scent and a good fox, a 

 combination that happens oftener than might be 

 supposed. Harmony, who, notwithstanding her recent 

 peril, has never been off the line, though the others 

 over-shot it, scours away at a tangent, with the slightest 

 possible whimper, and her stern down, the leading hounds 

 wheeling to her like pigeons, and the whole pack driving 

 forward again, harder than before. 



It is a beautiful turn ; young Rapid would admire 

 it, no doubt, were his attention not distracted by the 



