OUR HANDY MAN 279 



Barnsleys was the first covert we tried, then Mark Hall, both blank. 

 In Bay's Grove hounds found instanter and ran at a great pace to Latton, 

 checked there, and getting away again pulled their fox down in the open 

 two fields from Latton Priory, when the opportunity was taken of 

 blooding two youthful aspirants to fox-hunting fame ; Charley Newman 

 Gilbey was one of them, and I fancy a cousin or brother of his the other. 



I was out of this hunt from Latton, as were most of those who were in 

 the middle ride when the fox broke. 



Herbert Blyth, however, was one of the fortunate ones who got well 

 away and led the dance — as he remarked to me after the kill, hunting in 

 Leicestershire teaches you to be quick ; jump the first fence whatever it is, 

 and you are all right. But there was no fence in that middle ride to jump 

 — only a big crowd to wedge you in. What, then, Mr. B.? "Xo business 

 to have got there, sir," I fancy he would reply. 



Parndon Woods, for a wonder, failed us, but in the small spinney 

 adjoining Mr. Todhunter's house a fox was at home. Here I and W. had 

 a great stroke of luck. Thinking that the holloa was the Pinnacle side, we 

 rode for it to find to our dismay that we were wrong, and what was still 

 worse, that the old gap by the side of the wood was done up with rails, 

 making it quite unjumpable from our side ; the fence itself was impracti- 

 cable, and riding along it no weak spot could be seen. Resigning ourselves 

 to the inevitable, we were retracing our steps without any hopes of seeing 

 hounds again in that run, when we suddenly espied Short, the first 

 whip, gallop up to the corner of the wood, and he asked us it we had 

 seen the fox, which had doubled back into the wood. To make a long story 

 short, I and W. were at the head of affairs when the fox broke, and again 

 made for Parndon Woods ; pressing him through these, hounds ran him 

 across Rye Hill Common to Latton Park ; coming away from there over the 

 common, they returned to Parndon Woods, where within two fields of it a 

 flight of rails over which jMr. J. Swire had flown brought Mr. Bevan to 

 grief. The Admiral and I jumped off to the rescue, but luckily, beyond 

 having the wind knocked out of him and being somewhat bruised, Bevan 

 was none the worse for being used as a door mat by his quad. Leaving 

 Parndon Woods we ran our fox at slow pace to ?^Iarles and lost him near 

 Thornwood Common. Altogether a nice hunting run. They did not find 

 again. 



Wednesday, January 17th, Tylers Cross. Hacked on to the meet with 

 W., and we were overtaken by Tilling and Gerald Buxton, the latter of 

 whom said he had just received a letter from his cousin Lawrence Buxton, 

 who was with Sir Redvers Buller's force, and that he had stated that 

 there was no doubt about their having had a tremendous hiding on the 

 Tugela.'' 



Nothing like such a large muster as the previous W^ednesday, the 

 threatening appearance of the weather no doubt deterring a good many, 

 but the following names occur to me : Mrs. Bowlby and Miss E. Bowlby, 

 Mr. Arthur Bowlby, Mr. and Mrs. L. Arkwright, ^^lajor and INIrs. Ricardo, 

 Mr. Vivian Nickalls, Mr. J. Pelly, Miss E. Pelly, Vivian Pelly, Mr. R. 

 Bury, Air. and Mrs. Crossman, Mr. H. E. Jones, Mrs. and Miss Waters, 

 Mr. H. |. Price, Air. and Mrs. Weston Crocker, Mr. Balfour, of Moor 

 Hall, Mr. T. J. Howard, Mr. F. Avila, Air. A. Peel, Miss E. Peel and her 

 sister, Air. E. W. Young, Air. J. Green, young Chapman, Air. G. H. Lee, 

 Mr. R. S. Tilling, Air. G. Buxton, Aliss t. Buxton, Air. E. Savill and his 



* Another instance (though unofficial) that Englishmen are not given to magnifying every 

 defeat into a glorious victory, like the Boers. — Ed. 



