THE SHIRES. 245 



I have already observed that in the shires we put two 

 days into one. Where seventy or eighty couple of 

 hounds are kept and thirty horses, to hunt four times a 

 week, with plenty of country, in which you may find a 

 fox every five minutes, there can be no reason for going 

 home while light serves ; and really good scenting days 

 occur so rarely that we may well be tempted to make 

 the most of one even with jaded servants and a half- 

 Jtired pack of hounds. The field, too, are considerably 

 diminished by three or four o'clock. One has no second 

 horse, another must get home to write his letters, and, 

 if within distance of Melton, some hurry back to play 

 whist. Everything is comparative. With forty or fifty 

 horsemen left, a huntsman breathes more freely, and 

 these, who are probably enthusiasts, begin to congratu- 

 late themselves that the best of the day is yet to come. 

 " Let us go and draw Melton Spinney," is a suggestion 

 that brightens every eye; and the Duke will always 

 draw Melton Spinney so long as he can see. It is no 

 unusual thing for his hounds to kill, and, I have been 

 told, they once found their fox by moonlight, so that it 

 is proverbial all over his country, if you only stop out 

 late enough, you are sure of a run with the Belvoir at 

 last. And then, whether you belong to the school of 

 young Rapid or his father, you will equally have a treat. 



