CHAPTER III. 



" We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top, 

 And mark the musical confusion 

 Of hounds, and echo in conjunction." 



Will Sykes was designed by nature for a 

 huntsman. With a short stature and wiry 

 frame, he possessed activity, indomitable 

 courage, patience, and judgment. His voice, 

 too, seemed to come from his heart, as he 

 cheered with lusty lungs; and his strong grey 

 eyes encompassed a whole parish, when he 

 threw them forward for a view. Grood 

 humour sat upon his lip, and there was a 

 great secret in his possession, of being capable 

 of pleasing everybody without any apparent 

 effort. Proud — perhaps a little vain — was 

 our Will of his exterior ; but then there might 

 be sufficient cause; for although his short- 



