156 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



The Colonel advised me where to go to secure a mount. 

 The stable I applied to early the next morning was that of a 

 "Jobmaster." Yes, he could mount me that day for the Quorn, 

 as it was a bye day: three guineas (over 15 dollars) ; and at ten 

 o'clock I went to get my mount, which, by the charge, I ex- 

 pected would be something first-class. Imagine my surprise 

 when the groom led out an old stiffened hunter that looked 

 hardly up to my weight. 



"Where is the owner?" I inquired. "Gone to the meet, sir. 

 Master said I was to show you the way, sir." "But," I said, 

 "that poor old cripple is not fit to carry me." "Be 

 all right, sir, soon as 'e's limbered hup a bit." I had my doubts. 

 He had been fired and blistered and nerved. However, I 

 hacked that old hunter seven long miles to the meet. I made up 

 my mind that I would ride out to see the start and ride back 

 to Leicester. 



At the meet I saw the dealer and complained about my 

 mount. The two grooms who accompanied me were beauti- 

 fully mounted and so was the owner. I could not understand it. 

 "Go all right," said the jobmaster, "directly the hounds throw 

 off." I was invited into the house for a taste and was here 

 introduced to the Master, the Earl of Lonsdale. It seemed as 

 if the great dining hall was full of dukes and lords. Lord 

 Lonsdale impressed me as a most affable gentleman, easily 

 approached. I noticed that he spoke to farmers and lords in 

 the same gentlemanly manner. 



As we rode along to covert I saw a fine looking gentleman, 

 Lord So and So, in a pink hunting coat and brass buttons, white 

 silk breeches, liigh silk hat and top boots, begging a light of 

 some country chap on a long-tailed, long-haired farm horse. In 

 the hunting field in England everyone seems to meet on a level. 

 An English gentleman holds his standing so securely that he 

 can speak with any one of his acquaintance without ever feeling 

 that he has lowered himself in doing so. Altogether an 



