348 REMINISCENCES OF 



Morris as soon as he could. " Usurper," his horse, 

 was fresh enough, for he rushed at the first fence 

 (a drop), over-jumped himself, and gave me a 

 regular burster, and knocked five minutes of the 

 ten out of himself. No harm done ; scrambled on 

 and caught the hounds at the railway bridge at 

 Bowden Inn. The fox had run the road. " Relish " 

 hit the line through the hedge on the right, and Tom 

 held the rest up to her. The field had cut off the 

 tail hounds, and got " Flasher " and " Graceful " in 

 the middle of them, and were playing at football with 

 them, for which I blessed them. They ran round 

 the back of Bowden Inn, paused for a minute at a 

 plough, and crossed the rail at the first crossing right 

 of the Langton road. " Flasher " first over the rail, 

 and then over the brook, and on as if for Langton 

 Caudle. Frank Langham went at the brook, and 

 his horse jumped in. Tom Firr, seeing the bottom 

 was good, jumped in and out. Custance jumped 

 it well, just as Tom got out. Mills and I jumped it 

 more to the right, in a watering-place, and got over 

 well ; only two others, Langham and Tom, over 

 before us. It caused lots of grief, and many took 

 to the road at Bowden Inn. White and Fraser's 

 horses stand there, and they both got fresh horses. 

 The fox was headed on the top of the next hill and 

 turned along the valley. Here Charlie White came 

 up on a fresh grey horse, and kindly offered to let me 

 have it. We now began to be a mutual assistance 

 society, and help each other, and pulled down rails 

 and made gaps. Crossed the road between Thorpe 



