Il6 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



pastime, the field in which the most 

 lasting friendships are cemented, and in 

 which the best instincts of the genus 

 homo are fostered. A manly sport in 

 which peer and peasant participate on 

 a level footing, and which leaves no 

 disagreeable after-taste. 



The Burton country has been hunted 

 by some of the most illustrious masters 

 whose names adorn the pages of hunting 

 lore : Osbaldeston, Assheton Smith, Sir 

 Richard Sutton, and (at the time I 

 entered, and not the least notable) old 

 Lord Henry Bentinck. He was a mar- 

 vellous man. He would ride thirty miles 

 from Welbeck of a morning, hunt all 

 day, and go like blazes, and at odd times 

 has been known to hack back at night. 

 Being somewhat of a martyr to gout, he 

 ate only one meal a day, and hated 

 women and Sundays — the latter because 



