CHAPTER XI. 



" Each seems to say come, let us try our speed ; 

 Away they scour, impetuous, ardent, strong, 

 The green turf trembling as they bound along." 



I ALLUDED to Sir William Eden's good stud of horses 

 before ; he had about this time old " Hailstorm," a black 

 horse with fired hocks, but a most wonderful performer ; he 

 was certainly one of the best hunters I ever saw, and I have 

 heard Sir William say that he considered him perhaps the 

 best he ever had. Then he had " Cardinal," bought of Mr. 

 Bowser, a horse never known to refuse anything, however 

 big or impracticable ; a dark-brown horse, a regular old- 

 fashioned, weight-carrying hunter on short legs ; if anything 

 short of Sir William's quality, but uncommon clever ; and 

 he had a horse called " Sweep," a black horse that he had 

 with him in the Army, and which he rode second in the 

 8th Hussars' military race at Newbridge. These were his 

 three best about this time, and they were three bad to beat. 

 I rode " Cardinal " once at Quarrington Hill, when Captain 

 Malet was out, and we ran our fox by Shadforth Dene and 

 Witch Hills. We had twenty-five minutes, as hard as we 

 could lick. Just before getting to Witch Hills I speculated 

 a bit, and got a lucky nick in and caught sight of " Charles," 

 and being close to him, told him plainly that he would have 



