FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 123 



distance to reach them. On his celebrated grey 

 horse Cracker no one could beat and very few 

 follow him ; but probably that was the case with 

 him on any horse and in any country. 



It always delighted me to find him at the 

 meet, as, if it was a likely hunting morning and 

 everything promised well, he would invariably ride 

 up to me, pointing his whip first at the Blankney 

 bitches and then towards the sky, murmuring 

 in confidential accents, '' There's blood in the air 

 to-day," evidently the happy omen being in his 

 mind that we should certainly catch a fox before 

 it was dark. 



During his later years he hunted chiefly from 

 Melton Mowbray, and it was there that he died 

 very suddenly in January 1905. Kindly and 

 courteous by nature, he was deeply and widely 

 regretted by all who knew him. 



At that time, when living at Norton Conyers, 

 a long twenty-seven miles from the Hurworth 

 Kennels, I found the pilgrimage to and fro on 

 hunting days rather more than I could well 

 manage, but no distance was too far and no 

 weather too bad for Lady Graham, who was out 

 almost every day. 



There were no motors in those days, and the 

 railway opportunities were often a most uncertain 

 advantage at the end of a long run, when the 



