FOX-HUNTING. 25 



elbows and defiant aspect, scattering more mud behind 

 him than any one horse and man ever before projected 

 or cast back upon an astonished and angered public. 

 Through the gate, if any, at the end he crams his way, 

 regardless alike of such expressions as " Take care ! " 

 " Where are you coming to ? " — an absurd question, 

 decidedly, the object being evident — and also very 

 properly disregarding and treating with utter contempt 

 the man (always to be found in a gateway) who says 

 " There is no hurry ! " a gratuitous falsehood, as his 

 own conduct sufficiently proves. In the open field 

 beyond he rushes like a whirlwind past any one who 

 may be in front, and, so long as gates or only small 

 gaps are in his line, pursues a triumphant course. 

 But he has no root, and in time of temptation is apt 

 to fall away : that is, the moment a fence of the 

 slightest magnitude presents itself. Then he fades 

 away — disappears, and is no more seen ; yet he, like 

 the ephemera, has had his day, though a short one, and 

 returns to his well-earned rest contented and happy. 

 Then there is a character for whom I have always 



