56 CHASING AND RACING 



buff," they were looked upon as the finest horsewomen 

 of the O.B.H. As long as the supply of fur held out 

 we could always be sure of showing first-rate sport ; 

 especially in that part of the country which included 

 the grass lands of the Aylesbury Vale. Here was a 

 gallant race of hares. If and when found, puss, after 

 one ring, would go straight off to the Chiltern Hills, 

 sometimes giving us a burst of over two miles, cut 

 short on some occasions by a " worry worry " ; for my 

 little jelly dogs could hop it to a lively tune when scent 

 was propitious or when they could race away, close to 

 the scut. 



But there came a time when the numbers of the 

 quarry became smaller and smaller, and unbeautifully 

 less, for this was in the days when the effect of " the 

 Ground Game Act " was beginning to make itself 

 unpleasantly obvious. 



So there were occasions when even the keen eye 

 of Jack Westrup, and his intimate knowledge of the 

 ways and wiles of " Madam " failed us. Blank days 

 were all too frequent, and at last I was driven to the 

 purchase of a hard-bitten stag, to vary the monotony 

 and to give our farmer friends and other followers a 

 bit of a gallop. Personally I hold no brief for stag- 

 hunting in any shape or form. Least of all the hunting 

 of the so-called "wild" beast by the Devon and 

 Somerset S.H. I have heard those cranks who want 

 to differentiate between the degrees of cruelty entailed 

 in the pursuit of field sports say sententiously, " I can 



