FOX AND HOUND 



degrees, high mounds, and engine houses help to 

 break the dreary Altcar dead level of grass and 

 fallows, which look as if they had merely been 

 pared. Be that as it may, they are full of *' fur," 

 and during' one portion of the meeting, Hard Lines, 

 Mr. J. Hole's black dog, got among a wandering 

 troop of nearly a hundred hares, and didn't know 

 what it meant. There are a few trees, and there 

 is a conventicle-looking church in the distance, but 

 even when the sun is out, it looks quite a joyless 

 land, inhabited by the descendants of Mat o' the 

 Marsh. 



'There is life enough at the North End Farm, 

 where the carriages make their halt, and the oflScial 

 card-seller sets up his basket under the lee of a 

 barn. He is wise in his generation, as if he once 

 faced the open there would be a rush at him, 

 and like good card-sellers before him, he might be 

 pressed into the ditch. The trainers are here in 

 great force, each with his champion in hand, or 

 snugly ensconced in a dog- van. Speculation (late 

 Red Robin) occupies the front seat of a cab, and a 

 large wisp of straw is spread artistically over the front 

 window, for fear any minute draught may visit his 

 honoured head too roughly. Alas ! it is of no avail, 

 as India Rubber challenges him to the slips ere two 

 hours more are over, and wins a good trial cleverly 

 at his expense. Some of the dog carriages are 

 drawn in great style by three donkeys, but many 



56 



