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murmured, " Oh, Netteswell X." The country is open ; there is room to 

 gallop. The fences are easy and will not stop me. Gates are numerous 

 and bridle paths convenient. So a truce to the vaunted Roothings, but 

 leave me Netteswell X. 



But what a dispeller of such airy dreams and nice calculations was 

 Wednesday, November 13th, the last occasion upon which our hounds met 

 at this never-to-be-forgotten meet. For on that particular day never did 

 you require a better mount, never had you occasion to feel in better form if 

 you would have dined in comfort and slept in peace, unhaunted by the 

 nightmare of having, after all, gone out on the wrong'un. Will you allow 

 me to give you the names, or as many as I can remember, of those who 

 were fortunate enough not to miss this fixture, for, later on, I dare not 

 venture to give a tithe of those who assisted at the final obsequies of as 

 gallant a fox as ever crossed a country, without fear of giving mortal offence 

 to some whose familiar forms may have escaped my notice. Among them 

 you will find names of those who, when hounds are running hard, will 

 always be there or thereabouts : 



The two Masters, Mr. E. S. Bowlby and Mr. Arkwright, Mrs. Ark- 

 wright, Mr. A. S. Bowlby, Mr. R. Y. Bevan, Mr. C. E. Green, Mr. E. 

 Barclay, M.H., Mr. G. Buxton, Misses M. and T. Buxton, Mr. Ford 

 Barclay, Miss Ida and Miss G. Blyth, Messrs. H. and A. Blyth, Mr. 

 Bailey, Mr. Borwick, Major and Mrs. Carter, Mr. Cockett, Major and 

 Mrs. Ricardo, Captain and Mrs. Bruce, Major Wilson, Mr. and Miss Peel, 

 Mr. P. S. Lee, Miss Mason, Mrs. Frank Ball, Messrs. A. and G. Gold, 

 Mrs. Neill, Mr. F. Dent, Dr. Grubb, Mr. Steele, his son and clergyman 

 brother, Mr. Newman Gilbey, Mr. Hull, Rev. L. Scott, Mr. Todhunter, 

 Mr. PheUps, Mr. and Mrs. Swire, Mr. Green, Mr. Avila, Mr. G. Lee, Mr. 

 Harris, Mr. Fitch, Mr. Chapman, jun., Mr. Roddick, Messrs. Sewell (3), 

 Mr. Howard Fowler, Mr. Patchett, Q.C., Mr. Wahab, Mr. Hart, jun., Mrs. 

 Crocker, Mr. N. Dawson, Mr. Horner, Mr. E. Felly, Mr. Tilling, Mr. P. 

 M. Evans, Mr. H. Sworder, Mr. Pemberton-Barnes, Mr. Basham, Mr. 

 Baddeley, and others. 



It was hardly a day upon which we expected hounds to run without any 

 assistance. The wind was not N.E., forbiddingly keen ; neither was there 

 a southerly wind with a cloudy sky. But rather a flashy wind, puffing up in 

 gusts from the west, warmed by a sun which shone steadily all through that 

 mild November day. Even after the hounds had raced a fox at top speed 

 from Weir Hatches and killed him at Mark Hall, there remained some 

 sceptics who doubted the plough carrying a scent. Was I one of them ? I 

 cannot say, nor for the life of me make out how it was so many of us waited 

 so long in Latton Park, after the big fox with long white tag had crossed 

 over into the Parndon side of that historic covert. Was it the presence of 

 the ex-master, whose ancient authority still inspires us with the same awe 

 which every man who has been to a public school ever retains for his 

 headmaster who has laid to heart King Solomon's advice ? Who can say ? 

 But had not Mr. Green made a move, a score of us would have been left 

 behind for a dead certainty. Nor, when we emerged, could we solve the 

 riddle of the group of horsemen at the far side of the first field, standing 

 still as if the fox had gone to ground or a horse had broken his back. They 

 were beginning to move, however, by the time we reached them, and none 

 too soon, for Bailey was already another field beyond with his hounds, 

 galloping for all he was worth down the Harlow Road below Rundells, 

 while a string of flying pinks could be seen clattering up its gravelled ride. 



To jump out of the road was the work of a second, and reins were 

 loosed and horses called upon to extend themselves over the big field below 

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