THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND. 65 



continued he, " to see a first-flight man, after 

 a fifteen minutes' burst, blown to a stand- 

 still; while farmer Stockdale gives him the 

 go-by with his goose-rumped, short-legged, 

 long-necked nag, just in the wind." 



" And does that often take place? " I 

 inquired. 



** Very frequently," replied my com- 

 panion. " Head and hands will beat heels 

 all the world over." 



At this moment the Squire came trotting 

 briskly up on his hack ; and as he rode through 

 the throng, hats were lifted and salutations 

 exchanged. Our master, be it remembered, 

 although an old English gentleman, was not a 

 gentleman of the old school. He neither swore 

 the roundest oaths, nor horsewhipped those 

 whom he dared or could afford to pay; he 

 boasted not of the number of bottles it took to 

 make him oblivious of sublunary matters, or 

 laughed only at the practical joke and coarsest 

 jest. His object was not to be the oracle of 

 grooms and stable-boys, or the subject of 

 discussion in the village tap-room. With an 

 affable bearing, he possessed a kind and 

 generous disposition, and a heart more ready 

 to befriend the deserving and destitute than 



F 



