60 THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND. 



other way when I hear Ned Adams," 

 observed I. 



" To be sure/' returned Trimbush. " The 

 thrashed hound fears the whip; and getting 

 away to his cry of ' for'ard * is as essential as 

 obeying the huntsman's horn; but the feelings 

 for the two are far from being akin." 



We now turned a sharp angle in the lane, 

 down which we were gently trotting : and on 

 a large open piece of waste ground — the 

 coarse grass, patches of thistles and rushes, 

 being cropped by a few donkeys and a flock 

 of desolate-looking geese — ^my eyes first saw 

 the assembled members of " our hunt." 



Deny it who will — it is a heart-stirring, 

 gladsome, inspiring, English sight, to witness 

 a country gentleman and popular master in 

 the field. There are his friends and neigh- 

 bours, his tenants and yeomen, stout and true, 

 his servants and dependents, met together for 

 a noble amusement, and one which unites 

 them in the bond of goodly fellowship. It 

 has been well observed, ** What is a gentle- 

 man without his recreations ? ' ' and, to alter 

 the query slightly, it might be said, " What 

 is a country gentleman unless he be a sports- 

 man f ' ' Like a fish out of water, a bull in a 



