214 MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 



Sometimes she was with one lot, sometimes with another. 

 Fortune favoured her at length ; there was a holloa at the 

 lower corner, and the two divisions in which hounds were 

 now running appeared to be converging. 



Hot, wet and tired, she slithered down a narrow rack, 

 fending off the overhanging branches with her arm, and 

 reached the lower ride in time to see Captain Majendie 

 galloping along the meadow outside the wood. 



Somewhere close by Miss Badsworth's voice exclaimed 

 with determination : — 



" Hold hard, please, and don't get in the way ! " 



If she had hit the Captain over the head with her crop 

 she could not have hurt his dignity more. 



Lavvy caught a glimpse of her aunt and a horseman be- 

 side her in a tweed coat, from which she drew her own con- 

 clusions. For a second or two laughter prevented her 

 blowing her horn, but she accomplished the feat right well 

 at last, the pack united, and a hundred yards farther on 

 drove a beaten cub through the fence to meet his end just 

 outside the covert. 



'* Whoo ! whoop ! " the girl cried in a style which went 

 up to Joe Summers in the ride above, at the same time 

 slipping from the Banker's back and leaving him to catch 

 his wind as best he could. 



'* Whoo ! whoop ! Mind your horses, please," as various 

 riders drew near in anxiety to see the girl break up her first 

 fox in the Cranston country. They were disappointed. 



*' Leave them alone, Ned," as the first whip prepared to 

 make a dive for the tattered carcase. " Hew ! Worry, 

 worry, worry ! " and then she blew her horn again. 



" How many short, Ned ? " she asked presently. 



" Two couple and a half, ma'am ; there are some hounds 

 running back at the top of the wood ; I expect Bill is with 



'em." 



Lavvy signed to her second horseman, and Ned secured 

 the mask after a slight difference of opinion with Ravager. 

 As Lavvy put her foot in the stirrup, Captain Majendie, 



