Old Stories. 2 5 



a day was chosen when they were to meet at Freefolk 

 Wood, twelve miles off, and by no means the easiest 

 of covers to encounter. On the previous day, the two 

 Mr. Chutes saw the hounds fed on their vegetable 

 diet, in order to be secure against any mistake ; but 

 as soon as they were safe in the house again, Cowley 

 said, ' Now, George, I tell you how it is, I won't stand 

 this nonsense ; I am not going to take my hounds to 

 Freefolk Wood on this catlap ;' and immediately he 

 threw down to the hounds some raw horseflesh which 

 he had cut up for the purpose. It chanced that the 

 hounds killed their fox handsomely at the end of a 

 very long day's work, to the great delight of the 

 gentleman who had suggested the experiment, and 

 who naturally considered it a conclusive proof of the 

 soundness of his theory. It is probable that no one 

 ever knew this secret till many years afterwards. 

 George, who, after Mr. Chute's death, became coach- 

 man to his widow, confided it to me as we were sitting 

 together in the barouche box, driving over Rooksdown. 

 I imagine, however, that this whim was not repeated. 

 Certainly, in my time, there was no want of horseflesh, 

 nor any deficiency in the condition of the hounds. 



It is amongst the earliest of my hunting recollections 

 that Mr. Chute once gave Mr. St. John a few days' 

 hunting in his country. I think it must have been 

 about the year 18 12 or 18 13 that I saw Mr. St. John 

 find a fox at Waltham Wood, and after running 

 through Ashe Park, Dean Wood, and Nutley, lose him 

 in the open fields behind Quidhampton. Full thirty 

 years afterwards, as I was sitting with Mr. St. John at 

 the Board of Guardians, in the old Townhall of Wo- 

 kingham, I asked him if he recollected the circum- 



