34 MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 



he had said upon the moor. The concluding part which 

 summed up his convictions was all that recurred to him. 



" I call her a real good sort — at heart," he said. 



" Capital ! Well, I'll — yes, hanged if I don't. I'll write 

 to Hugo to-morrow." 



To-morrow ! How we close our eyes and charge that 

 fence simply because we have been too proud or too lazy or 

 too something to open the hand-gate of to-day. And then, 

 sometimes, what a fall we get which knocks us out of time 

 for a bit, and conjures up regrets for things which because 

 we can now see them in the past, we blame ourselves for 

 not having perceived when in the future. 



At that moment the wires had already told their tale, and 

 there was set up in type a paragraph for the morning papers 

 headed " Fatal Accident to an M.F.H.". The items as 

 contained in that paragraph were, as usual, incorrect in 

 detail. The principal fact was too true ; what happened was 

 this : — 



It was quite as warm a day in Dumpshire as in Cornwall, 

 and members of the hunt who came to see the last of the 

 season were influenced by that slackness which besets all 

 but the keenest when scent is bad and the primroses in full 

 bloom. The master, hunting his own hounds, was one of 

 the few not influenced by the surroundings. Twice hounds 

 were stopped with a vixen before them, till Apperley Wood, 

 three miles from Cranston, furnished a dog-fox. 



Probably with a knowledge that scent was bad, that fox 

 refused to leave the covert except for one brief excursion ; 

 some said he was mangy, others declared it was only a 

 mark on his back. The Squire was determined not to leave a 

 doubtful animal with the chance of spreading disease. 



For two hours all was done that patience, perseverance 

 and energy could do. 



Mr. Hugo Badsworth sent his first horse home, and set 

 about- a final efl'ort upon a second ; it was so successful that 

 a beaten fox had to save his life by attempting the open ; 

 but heart and strength failed him, he got back to the covert 



