ii6 Reminiscences of a 



jumped up at her, and quickly she was nearly smothered 

 with sand. It was with difficulty that I could keep them off" 

 her, and so began to use my whip pretty freely, when she 

 said, in far more perfect English than I could ever make 

 use of, " John, never mind me, they won't hurt me ; I rather 

 like it 1 " and she did get a proper smothering when I gave 

 up trying to stop them. If ever there was a noble lady 

 there was one ; every morning she asked us all how we 

 were, acknowledging us all — right through the lot of us. 

 She didn't like to see hounds thrashed at all; in fact, she 

 hated it, and would'nt have it. I had a fox terrier* of good, 

 old-fashioned breed, which I took out with me, and with 

 which we used to bolt no end of foxes. One day he mis- 

 behaved himself, and collared a hound by the throat, and I 

 unwittingly before Her Majesty caught him three or four 

 times with a whip such a clipper that I knocked him over. 

 She saw it, and I heard her say to Carter, " I would rather 

 have borne the blow myself than seen the good little dog 

 get it." She was " Oh dearing " all the time whilst Carter 

 was explaining why I corrected the little dog. Then she 

 turned away, with the words " Oh dear, poor little fellow," 

 and never came to look at the horses at " Kapisher Myger," 

 her hunting box, without asking for little Chester. This was 

 Chester I., for curiously enough I had another little terrier 

 called Chester, which I will call Chester II., when at Rushy- 

 ford in the South Durham country. Either of the Chesters 

 would go through fire or water after a fox, and Chester II. 



• This terrier was given to Bevans by Will Wells, who was second whipper-in to the Vale of 

 White Horso in 1872. In 1878 he went as first whip to the Belvoir, remaining there 

 until 1882, when he left to act as huntsman to the Puckeridge. In 1885 he was huntsman to 

 Mr. Gosling's hounds, afterwards called the Herts and Essex ; and in 1893 became hunts- 

 man to the Hertfordshire, and has remained with them ever since, being, I hear, greatly 

 esteemed by everyone for his many good qualities. I well remember Wells' beautiful 

 seat on a horse, when he whipped-in to Frank Gillard with the Belvoir. 



