142 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



evidently not in the least at home on horseback. 

 *' Have you seen the hounds?" we asked. "No," he 

 replied, **but the man with the instrument passed me 

 just now." Some minutes later we heard hounds not 

 far off, and realised that they were running in covert. 

 Then a brace of foxes crossed the ride, to the intense 

 delight of the gentleman in blue. They were shortly 

 followed by the pack, and the horse of the novice 

 became excited, began to plunge violently, and quickly 

 got rid of its rider, who was more frightened than hurt 

 when he fell. By this time a dozen riders were on the 

 spot, and one of them going to the assistance of the 

 stranger found that in his fall he had torn the blue 

 trousers right up the outside seam of one leg, and that 

 underneath he was wearing leathers and top-boots, 

 both brand-new, and of the best London make. 



There were several undergraduates amongst the 

 crowd which collected, and they began to chaff him 

 about his kit, when it transpired that this was his first 

 day with hounds, that at the last moment he had funked 

 going out in his new clothes, and so had covered his 

 grand new boots and breeches with a pair of old yacht- 

 ing trousers. 



One or two other little matters will quickly present 

 themselves to the beginner, one being the importance 

 of waiting one's turn at a gate. There are in these 

 days many gates to be passed through in the average 

 day's hunting, even in the course of a run, for barbed 

 wire and at times boundary fences have made riding 

 across country without deviation in many places im- 

 possible. Then, too, canal bridges often have one, 

 and sometimes two gates, and the same thing applies 

 to branch railways, and lines connected with collieries, 

 quarries, and so forth. Main lines are almost univer- 



