244 LEAVES FROM A HUNTING DIARY 



sitk'. Mr. W'altham rides hard and strai^i^-ht, and prefers his 

 own Urn: to anyone else's. 



I fancy the peaceful little hamlet of Abridge must have been startled 

 from its usual lethargic condition by the thunder of horses' hoofs, as, like a 

 mighty flood, those who had been riding on the left bank of the river rattled 

 o'er the stony street in eager and hot haste to catch the fleeting and now 

 silent pack, which, having crossed the road, left the river for the fourth and 

 last time behind. A gate into the road was jammed and settled the ques- 

 tion of jumping in and out. A dozen at least were over abreast, straining 

 every nerve to catch the bitch pack, who were swinging with the steadiness 

 of a pendulum to the left, with — 



Not a nose to the ground, not a stern in the air. 

 Crossing the road near Theydon Hall, we swept down the meadows over 

 which we quite recently had such a clinking run with Mr. Barclay's 

 Harriers. 



Who was that dark-coated sportsman wath a clear lead of every one, 

 looking a very centaur, as, without any apparent effort, he landed his horse 

 over fence after fence ? And they couldn't gain a yard on him ! Mr. 

 Waltham, of course ! A farmer against the field on a good horse — for a 

 "pony," if you like — against all the pink and silk clad thrusters. Single 

 file down to the brooklet at the bottom, and as we rose the opposite hill, we 

 took more open order. One of our quickest men ■' in a quick thing took a 

 header ! On such occasions it is a rare pleasure to catch and restore a 

 horse. Bearing rather to the right, the pack crossed the Ongar line. How 

 we should have got over had it not been for those white railway gates, I 

 shall not attempt to solve ; but the temporary delay caused by opening 

 them did not produce any inconvenient crowding. Some say eight, some 

 say ten, went through with the huntsman. 



Pointing for Debden Hall, it was passed on the right, and though hounds 

 now struck into a frightful barbed wire country, by good fortune we hit off 

 the only fields that were free from the snare, turned over the Loughton 

 road, and so reached the Forest, where, in the big earths near Luffman's 

 Lodge, this good fox got to ground. Fifty minutes from the time we left 

 Barbers was quick work for the eight miles of country covered, and it was 

 a fine hoimd run, too, for Baily never touched them once. So, Mr. Mills, 

 we will toast you and your fox in a big bumper, and may we find and run 

 him again is the ardent wish of us all. 



Mr. E. Barclay's Harriers met on Tuesday at Maries Farm, Epping, 

 upon the invitation of Mr. Lewis Phillips, who extended a most hearty wel- 

 come to all. Three ladies graced the meet with their presence — Miss 

 Leatham, Miss Lamarque, and Miss Yerburgh. Miss Leatham had a 

 narrow escape from a nasty accident. During a sharp burst in the second 

 run she put her horse at a very blind ditch, with an awkward rail on the 

 far side, and her horse, failing to clear it, fell back with her among the 

 brambles. With considerable agility she succeeded in freeing herself, and, 

 remounting, was soon to the front again. 



Among others at the meet we noticed Mr. Patchett, Q.C., Mr. Hoare, 

 Mr. Parham, Mr. Rickett, Mr. Westall, Mr. E. Oliver, and the Huntsman 

 of the Essex Hounds, who began his day well by bolting two very fine foxes 

 from a drain, and promptly stopping it. It was some time before a hare 

 was found ; but there was a dusting scent, and the seventeen couples 

 simply flew along, distancing all their followers. 



* P. M. Evans. 



