THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



and raisini^ tlieir heads, away they went, at such an awful pace, 

 that we might have safely taken Meynell at his word, and 

 ridden over them, if we could have done so. In fact, the 

 first quarter of an hour was so fast, that ten minutes more 

 would have brought us all to a standstill. At Ragdale, how- 

 ever, we came to a check, the hounds having a little overrun 

 the scent, from the fox turning short to the left, which gave 

 our horses some relief. A judicious cast soon put us to rights 

 again, and away we went, at our former speed, to Hoby Town ; 

 and straight from thence to Frisby Gorse, where, fortunately, 

 we once again came to a check ; for the pace and the country 

 were both awfully severe. Many of the horses, indeed, had 

 already declined, and two received their eternal quietus, from 

 meeting with accidents at fences. 



' Our fox hung just long enough in Frisby Gorse to give 

 the horses that were up, second wind, and away we went again, 

 up to Haines's Gorse, near Great Dalby, at a slashing pace ; 

 thence, over a splendid country, to Gadsby, when John Raven 

 caught view of him, in a large grass field, with almost every 

 hound close at his brush. He contrived, however, to reach 

 the fence ; and, slipping short down wind, got amongst some 

 old farm buildinjrs in a villao-e, and once more brought the 

 pack to check. The scent was again recovered, by some 

 masterly casts of the "old one," who never appeared to 

 greater advantage as a superior judge of fox-hunting, than 

 he did on that day. After forty minutes' cold hunting, we 

 found ourselves close to Queenborough village, with very 

 little apparent chance of again getting near to this most 

 gallant fox, when one of the most singular circumstances 

 occurred that was ever recorded in the annals of English fox- 

 liunting. 



' Every one who knows Meynell is aware of his invincible 

 perseverance in doing everything that can be done towards 

 killing his fox : and in this case he was determined not to give 

 the smallest chance away. It occurred to him, that our fox 

 had either got into a drain, or entered some out-building, in 

 the village of Queenborough, which determined him on once 

 more trying to recover him. He, therefore, walked his hounds 

 quietly among the houses, and, as he passed the church, two 

 or three couples of his hounds entered the yard. Amongst 

 these was our friend Champion, who almost instantly threw 



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