92 CHASING AND RACING 



Common. Already we had had several good runs 

 from this rather suburban gorse, and twice we had been 

 laughed at by probably the same old dodger, but on 

 the last occasion I had tumbled to his tactics and was 

 now prepared to counter them. Ted sent out private 

 notices of a by-day to all the genuine crowd ; but not 

 a word to the rank and file of the Hunt. I selected two 

 of my fastest mounts, both real good leppers, to wit, 

 Cinderella — a chestnut mare almost clean bred who 

 had won two nice little steeplechases at Hunt meetings, 

 and Uncle Ben, a bay gelding, bought locally as a 

 four-year-old, and broken to my own hand, after he 

 had had the rough edges chipped off by Bedford, who 

 was a fine horseman, and who delighted in preparing 

 green ones for me to polish. I made up my mind that 

 our artful friend would make tracks at the slightest 

 sign or token of our approach, so I sent Tom Goddard, 

 my first whipper-in, to a point where I figured that 

 His Nibs would sneak away ; whilst Wilson posted 

 himself three fields further off, but well in sight of Tom 

 who was not to halloa the fox, but only to signal to the 

 kennel huntsman so that there would be no likelihood 

 of Joshua doubling back. 



Hardly had hounds been thrown in than the 

 sonorous voice of old Landsman was heard. This was 

 a Washington hound that never told a lie. All the 

 others of the pack knew it, and would rally to the 

 tongue whenever and wherever thrown ; so that the 

 next moment the shrill piping note of Blossom, one of 



