MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 303 



a whip indicated that Ned was near the centre of the covert. 

 Lavvy's hopes rose, and she blew her horn again. But no ; 

 a single hound spoke. " Capstan, bother him," she said to 

 herself, and in a few seconds the tide of the chase set in her 

 direction in full flood. She rode slowly under the fence and 

 cracked her whip ; if they got away there was no saying what 

 would happen ; to her relief hounds turned sharply at an 

 angle, and she galloped back to the gate and entered the ride 

 and got to their heads. It was hardly possible to see any- 

 thing distinctly, and how many hounds were there she 

 couldn't tell, not all certainly, for there were some running 

 above. She got back to the gate, blowing her horn as she 

 went, with difficulty keeping the hounds she had got with 

 her. It was a relief by-and-by to hear Ned's voice, "Come 

 along. Coop ! " as he descended the ride. '' I've got some, 

 mum, but I can't see how many," he said when he arrived. 



There was, luckily, a farm hard by, and it was decided to 

 put what hounds there were into some shed and return for 

 the rest. 



A cow-man with his lantern was at the gate, wondering, 

 as he said, '* what was up ". The lantern's light revealed 

 twelve couples, which left the balance at seven and a half 

 still running in the wood. 



The impossibility of getting anywhere with any certainty 

 delayed matters ; time after time when the chance seemed 

 to offer of stopping hounds they turned sharply away. It 

 was nearly seven o'clock when Lavvy made a third or fourth 

 attempt and rode up the ride once more ; the gap in the 

 trees overhead was the only certain indication of its direc- 

 tion. Ned came down the opposite way, cracking his whip ; 

 he could just see the grey horse in front of him. Suddenly 

 the cry turned to a growling scrimmage, rather prolonged, 

 but that was unnoticed. 



Lavvy slipped off the grey and tried to force her way into 

 the underwood, but branches met her in all directions. For- 

 tunately the stolid cow-man appeared armed with his lantern, 

 and Ned quickly appropriated it. The hounds were cleared 



