CHAPTER XL 



MR ROBERT, MR FRED, AND MR FRANK J. USHER. 



1895-1906. 



There had been no joint-mastership for nearly 

 half a century — not since the charge of affairs had 

 been committed to Captain Sandilands and Captain 

 Fleeming — when Mr Robert Usher and his brothers, 

 Mr Fred and Mr Frank J. Usher, took the hounds 

 on the retirement of Mr Cross, in 1895. To enter 

 into the various schemes which were put forward 

 for the future hunting of the country after Mr 

 Cross's resignation had been received, and before 

 the arrangement come to with the Messrs Usher 

 was effected, would serve no good purpose ; nor is 

 it necessary to specify the terms of that arrange- 

 ment, inasmuch as these were virtually the same 

 as those which had been accepted by Mr Cross — 

 although it may be stated that the one-third share 

 in the pack which Mr Cross had held was now 

 taken over by the new masters. Throughout the 

 eleven seasons in which the Messrs Usher were in 

 office everything was done on a most liberal scale, 

 and money was not spared so long as they con- 



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