54 **THE MAJOR. 



on one occasion when a young man got amongst the 

 hounds at the meet and his horse unfortunately struck out, 

 just touching a hound sufficiently to make it yelp ; taken 

 by surprise the youth exclaimed to Mr. B. " I never knew 

 him to do it before ! " to which Mr. B. facetiously replied 

 " Did you ever know him do it behind ? " 



One of the best known and most highly esteemed 

 members of the hunt was Major Bethune, of Burton Overy, 

 who as a subaltern, was initiated into the mysteries of the 

 sport he loved by his friend Squire Freeman of Ratton, 

 then Master of the Southdown Hunt, a forbear of the 

 present Lord Willingdon, himself ex-Master of the East 

 Sussex. A man of remarkably fine physique, standing 

 6 feet 4 inches, and well proportioned, the Major was noted 

 in his youth as an exponent of the noble art of self-defence. 

 Upon one memorable occasion, when attending a military 

 race meeting, some roughs were busy making off with the 

 regimental plate, the young officer so vigorously handled a 

 few of them that the crowd became much exasperated, one 

 man declaring " Its all very fine for a great chap like you to 

 *' knock us fellows about, but we could easily fetch a man 

 •' who is on the course who would soon give you a good 

 "licking"; to which Bethune, 'spoiling for a fight,' 

 answered with alacrity "All right, go and fetch him." A 

 few minutes after Bethune found himself face to face with 

 Baldwin, the celebrated Irish pugilist, who undertook, as he 

 thought, to amuse the crowd ; but although during the 

 encounter Bethune sustained a badly broken nose, which 

 disfigured for life his otherwise handsome features, he suc- 

 ceeded in "knocking out" the professional! albeit luck 

 partly favoured the amateur, who, by skilful "leg work," 

 managed to manoeuvre so as to get the sun (which at the 

 time was shining brilliantly) in Baldwin's eyes, and to the 

 disconcerting effect of Old Sol, the gallant Major used to 

 attribute the opportunity by which he gained the victory. 



"The" Major, as he was popularly known, although 

 built upon so liberal a scale, by constant exercise retained 



