THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



there have been any, wiped off his neat and well-polished 



boots, a white cambric handkerchief was generally taken from 



his pocket by Shaw, with which, after gently raising his cap 



from his head, he as gently wiped his brow, returning it to 



whence it came. Then there was something remarkable too — 



something pleasing to the ear, in the tone of Shaw's voice, and 



especially so when uttering the words — ' your Grace,' which, 



of course, were invariably appended to his answers to his noble 



master. Again, there was an air about him even in mounting 



his hunter, and trotting away with the hounds towards the 



cover, at the signal given to him by the Duke, which forcibly 



struck Frank Raby as something out of the common way. 



The signal was silently but gracefully acknowledged by a gentle 



raising of the cap, and he may be said to have thrown his 



hounds into cover with much grace. As for his horsemanship, 



it was elegant, and so thought our hero. 



But our hero's opinion of the hounds shall appear in a 



letter he wrote to his friend Lord Dauntley, after hunting with 



Lord Lonsdale's hounds on the following day, and once more 



with Lord Sefton's. 



' Melton, February G, 1802. 



'Dear Dauntley, — 



' As we shall meet so soon, I shall only now tell you that I 

 have been out with the three packs, and am delighted with all 

 I have seen. I could not have believed, had I not witnessed 

 it, that any part of England could be so favourable, both 

 for hounds and those who ride to them, as that which I have 

 lately travelled over. And at what a pace it is travelled over ! 

 But you know all this better than I can tell you. I can only 

 say, it is too fast for me, at least, for my horses. I stopped 

 Gentleman, the first day with the Quorn, in little more than 

 twenty minutes ; Achilles is too slow ; ditto Pantaloon ; ^ in 

 fact, the General, and Bowman^ — a right good one — are the 

 only two at all fit for the country. My stable will soon be 

 stumped up, and I must either return to the provincials, or 

 purchase others. It is useless to be here with only six horses, 

 and four of those not up to the mark. I overheard one of the 

 fellows yesterday say — " I think that young Raby would ride if 

 he had the cattle, but the present lot won't do. They tell me 

 he'll be well breeched one of these days, so it's his own fault 



^ The liorse purchased at Tattersall's, togetlier with Gentleman. 

 - The horse purchased at the reconiniendation of Sir John Inkleton, and 

 already spoken of. 



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