CHAPTER XIII. 



" Care to our coffin adds a nail no doubt, 

 And every grin, so merry, draws one out !" 



AVERY cheery sportsman was Mr. Charles Backhouse, 

 then, I believe, living at Norton, who used to come 

 out with us occasionally, mounted, as far as I can remember, 

 generally on a weight-carrying bay. He was always in very 

 high spirits and the best of humours, and seemed to have a 

 good story or two, in fact a very large quantity in the 

 sporting line, which helped to while away a bad scenting 

 day ; he would generally retail his stories in not a very 

 mild tone, which very often gave the fox a chance of stealing 

 away at a quiet corner, at the other side of the whin or 

 plantation, to which I used to make with all haste ; thus 

 enabling hounds to get a good start with their fox, and the 

 " field " to quickly get their pipes opened. I hear that he 

 has now gone to live at Favordale, which is a place that 

 always brings fox-hunting to my mind when it is mentioned, 

 because many a mount have I had given me with the Earl 

 of Zetland's hounds, and other packs, by the late Mr. John 



