268 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. Ci898 



to jump a liazaidous umlertakiiig, which nearly resulted in a broken neck. Not 

 that he paid much heed to it, for he was sailing along afterwards as if necks were 

 a purchasable commodity. But the Master's fall, at a fence with a blind ditch to 

 liim, broke his collar-bone and cast a gloom over the rest of the day. '' Til bet 

 you ray collar-bone is not broken," he called out cheerily, as Dr. O'Callaghan 

 came to examine him. But, alas ! the doctor's verdict was against the patient, 

 and it was with universal regret and sympathy that every one saw him start to 

 ride pluckily home. There are masters whose presence can be spared witiiout 

 injury to sport, but Mr. Fort is not one of these, and, if only from a purely selfish 

 point of view, every one wishes him a speedy recovery. After his departure, by 

 a curious coincidence, hounds never ran again as they did in the early part of the 

 run. One fox, probably the hunted one, Avent away at the Brailsford end, but 

 hounds were stoiiped and laid on to one which broke at the Longford end, and 

 turning left-handed, down-wind, was soon lost near Long Lane. Boden's Thorns 

 held a fox, for which our thanks are due to the founders of this capital covert, 

 which went away down the hill on the Long Lane side, and, turning right-handed 

 Avith hounds only creeping after him, got to Kadburne Rough. They carried the 

 line out towards Park House and back again to the Rough, where they could 

 make nothing of it, and he was given up. The Spath furnished a fox, AVhich set 

 the hounds a tangled skein to unravel on the classic ground on which Sutton 

 Church looks down ; in fact, the spire would have been the best mount a hounds- 

 man could have had, for the line meandered up and down hedgerows, three sides 

 of one field and four of the next, while men and women jumped to their heart's 

 content, and fell to their discontent. It was a case of "You may jump till 

 you're sick, you may spur till you tire ; but you cannot get rid of that tapering 

 spire." All at once a great fox jumped up all amongst the hounds, and escaped 

 in the marvellous way in which a fresh fox will, but even so they could not 

 really run him four fields. However, two couples of hounds stuck to his line and 

 hunted him up to Boden's Thorns, and beyond it towards Radburne, attended 

 by three good sportsmen, till Steve stopped them. Meanwhile Bonner trotted up 

 the lane with the main body of the pack and threw them into Boden's Thorns in 

 the hopes of picking up his original-hunted fox. There was a halloa on the 

 Sutton side, and also a fine old dog fox went away in view of the whole field. 

 He was a fresh one, and the huntsman was doubtless right in trying to recover his 

 iumted fox in the covert, considering how late it was getting. However, he did not 

 succeed in doing so, and hounds went home, thus ending the best Thursday so far. 

 Saturday, at New Lodge, calls for but little comment. Mr. Arliss most 

 hospitably entertained all comers, and provided us with plenty of foxes as well. 

 The latter played with hounds all day in the woods between Draycott Cliti' and 

 Buttermilk Hill, with the exception of a bright little scurry of a few fields out 

 towards Agardsley Park and back again to Swilcar Lawn. Finally, they hunted 

 a fox across the Buttermilk Hill Lane into Dog Kennel Wood and out at the 

 bottom on to the farm of that capital sportsman, Mr. John Hollingsworth. It 

 being now late, and by rare good luck only one couple of hounds being away, 

 they were stopped and went home. The best news of the day was that the 

 Master's collar-bone was not broken after all. 



WITH THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. 

 Monday, December 5th, at Cubley Stoop was a nice hunting morning with a 

 southerly wind, warm without sun, what the French call a jour des dames. Such 

 a day, in short, as Beckford calls a perfect one for scent, adding, " there are not 



