CHAPTER VII 



IT must not be supposed that this outbreak of 

 mange put a stop to hunting, though we had 

 to go further afield for our sport ; but the 

 coverts were so large — by the way, the original 

 limits of the O.B.H. were bounded by Hyde Park 

 Corner and Cheltenham — that there was ample scope 

 for sportive investigation. Outlying foxes in the 

 Aylesbury and similar remote districts were ** spotted " 

 and located by Jack Westrup and other experts. A 

 by-day would be improvised, and occasionally, we 

 had some topping runs with the vagrants ; though, 

 of course, we had some occasional blanks, with no 

 ** safe find " to fall back upon. 



One of the great blessings of these minor expedi- 

 tions was that fields were, if select, decidedly small. 

 All ** the boys " of our own crowd had " the ofiice,'* 

 and religiously attended. Good sportsmen and straight 

 riders, who saw to it that foxhounds, and even I, had 

 fair play. 



One of these enterprises provided perhaps the best 

 and most exciting run I ever had with hounds. Peter 

 Chutterbuck had sent word to me that an old dog fo x 

 had taken up his quarters in the fastnesses of Stanm ore 



91 



