CHAPTER XIV. 



"Tlien thanks to the freedom of famed British land, 

 When reynard's once broken, who dares to command; 

 The peer, squire and farmer are then all alike, 

 Whoe'er saw precedence in jumping a dyke?" 



ONE of the very keenest men I ever saw was Mr. 

 William Forster (known by his friends as " Billy 

 Forster"), who was, I must say, as a rule, generally 

 mounted on the best of cattle for a very light-weight; when 

 I first remember him he had a fondness for embracing 

 mother earth, and frequently rolled a piece of ground for 

 some one or other, but still not deterred by any obstacle in the 

 chase, he would get up and have another go ; always in the 

 best of spirits, with a light heart, and a determination to be in 

 the front rank again, if possible ; he was all attention at the 

 covert side, and you never saw him talking, or what I have 

 heard them call "coffee-housing," when hounds were drawing; 

 if he spoke, it was in a whisper ; and I 've often seen his 

 intentions of a speech that was barely uttered, by the mo\e- 

 ments of his lips, when some ignorant riders or foot people 

 were standing where they ought not to have been. If those 

 utterings had been distinct, they would not have been very 

 complimentary, and a good many of them might possibly 

 have begun with a capital D — . Mr. Forster was xevy fond 



