THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



receive him. Whether it was that he wanted the excitement 

 of the Amstead harriers, or whether tlie Melton cover-hack 

 pace was quite beyond his mark, it is hard to determine, but 

 this much is certain : — despite of the resolute manner in which 

 he was ridden at it ; namely, with two good digs of the spurs 

 on starting, a refresher, when near tlie bank, by the whip, and 

 a ' Come up ' at rising, he only landed his fore legs on the 

 bank, falling backwards into the water, with our hero under- 

 neath him, who might be said to have been anywhere but in 

 clover at the time. The upshot, however, was that, having, 

 after a lapse of nearly lialf an hour, got his horse on the bank 

 again, he retraced his steps to Melton, on no very agreeable 

 terms with himself, but with a full determination to know 

 beforehand to whom he should in future look as pilots to 

 direct his course over Leicestershire, for in this instance he 

 had made a sad mistake. 



He had got into the wake not only of two of the best men in 

 the hunt, the afterwai'ds great Tom Smitli and Mr. Vansittart, 

 but, as is often the case with Meltonians who possess large 

 studs, they were not themselves on cover-hacks, but on first- 

 rate hunters, whose pipes they were amusing themselves with 

 opening, against their next day's work with hounds, instead of 

 leaving that task to their servants, who, as they had known to 

 their cost, could not perform it so well. 



As might be expected, many inquiries were made respecting 

 the absence of ' young Raby,' as he was called ; for his 

 having been introduced by Mr. Somerby, an influential character 

 in the liunt, together with his name and connections, had 

 rendered him an object of notice, even with the Melton men, 

 an honour not very often conferred on persons of still greater 

 pretensions. But they liked the looks of young Raby. There 

 was something manly and sportsmanlike about him ; in short, 

 they considered him 'a promising young one,' a compliment 

 first paid by Mr. Forester, no bad judge. To the questions 

 put to our hero himself, he made the following candid answer : 

 ' Why, I was very rightly served. I neglected the observance 

 of what ought to be a standing rule in all situations in life, 

 and in none more than in a sportsman's ; namely, to " take 

 time by the forelock," as the proverb has it, and even to allow 

 for the chapter of accidents. The fact was, I was at my 

 breakfast when I ought to have been on my hack, and I paid 

 dearly for my folly by being soused over head and ears in 



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