PREFACE 



*' Perhaps, after all, it 's a gain in the end 

 To be tied to the subject you love." 



RHYMES IN RED 



STRANGE as it may seem, there never has been a book 

 published in America on the subject of cross-country 

 riding to hounds. Let this be the author's apology — if 

 any is required — for presenting this work. 



Having moved into a hunting country without previous 

 knowledge of the sport, the author undertook to follow 

 the hounds after witnessing a run from a friend's car- 

 riage, and, needless to say, made about as many mistakes as 

 it was possible for a *' green un" to accomplish. It was 

 greatly to his mortification and chagrin to discover how 

 much of a sinner he had been against the unwritten laws 

 of the hunting-field — so much so that years later he deter- 

 mined, if an opportunity should present itself, to place in the 

 hands of similar uninitiated ones something in the nature 

 of a guide. Curiously enough, the rules are misunderstood 

 even by a large number of those who follow the hounds. 

 Especially is this true of the men who simply ** hunt to 

 ride." Although a gallop across country is a most invig- 

 orating pastime, the most interesting and lasting enjoy- 

 ment, the real sport, comes from a more thorough knowledge 



