MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 287 



slipped out into the ditch of a transverse fence. Hounds 

 caught a view, and the old man saw the end was near^ the 

 leading couples were close to their fox ; it was a matter of 

 moments; a sharp double, a snap, and it was over. 



*' Hold up/' a cheery voice cried. A roan horse crashed 

 into the fence, there was a blunder, some snowy fireworks, 

 and then a slim, red-coated figure rose from the whitened 

 earth and dived into a growling, struggling mass, with just 

 enough breath left for a clear " Whoo ! whoop ! " 



The old man bustled up just as Ned arrived through a 

 gate lower down. 



'* You ain't hurt, ma'am, I hope ? " Summers asked 

 anxiously. 



" Not a bit, thanks. Take my knife and do the honours, 

 Summers," Lavvy replied. " Baik, Sexton ! Abigail, get 

 away. Twenty-seven minutes from the lane at Little Croft 

 Farm, as hard as they could split." She was warm enough 

 now with the flush of excitement on her face. 



" It was terrible risky, ma'am," Summers said, taking oif 

 the mask with the skill of a professional carver. 



** Really it didn't ride badly, and we were lucky with the 

 gates. I believe it really was safer over the country though 

 things did look big and black." 



The worry was over, and carried out in a style which 

 Summers fully appreciated. 



*' You didn't draw for him, did you, ma'am ? " 



" No, no ; I was terribly cold, and I confess I hadn't got 

 over yesterday when a man turned a fox out of a hayrick, 

 and then somehow I felt bound to go. There was a splendid 

 scent, and. Summers, there was no field in the way." 



Summers contemplated the little lady with the same satis- 

 faction on his face which reigned there whilst he looked over 

 a favourite hound. (Lavvy looked small in her hunting 

 kit.) "Lor', ma'am," he said, "if you only had had the 

 luck to be a man ! " 



Now, was it a compliment or not ? Lavvy took it as such. 



" I suppose you mean that if I had been a man I shouldn't 



