THE MEET. 



HEADER (kind, of course), wc are about to ask j'ou to accompauy us to tlio Meet. 

 IMucli could "wc ■wi'ite ou a scene sucli as can only bo witnessed in our own merry land, — 

 more on the influence wliicli sport individually and collectivelj' exercises on our characters. 

 How the Iron Duke remarked that his best ofHccrs ■were hunting men — but it strikes us 

 that you might perchance have seen all this before ; so we will shun the well-trodden 

 path, and come at once to business. Another thing we must also deny ourselves; it 

 would please us, and you doubtless, could wo order round the drag, and then, cigar in 

 mouth, place ourselves behind four good steppers, which artistically handled (that is the 

 term, is it not ?) would, provided they neither ran into a cart nor a cutler's shop at an 

 awkward turn, take us the ten miles intervening between our home and the fixture 

 comfortably -within the hoiu-. But di'ags well horsed and turned out are few and far 

 between, so we must eschew them. Apologies for them are available enough ; but a 

 made-up team, and a coachman who is not quite certain where his horses are going or 

 what they are doing, is by no means to our taste ; we will leave them to those who like 

 " to do the swell cheap," as a friend of ours once remarked when going to cover with a 

 neighboiu" whose jmir had cost only " a pony" between them. 



Don't misunderstand us ; no one likes a really clever team better than ourselves ; it 

 is only the makeshifts and imitations we wish to keep clear of. There are many gradations, 

 fi-om the team downwards, for those who do not care to ride their own horse to cover — 

 some good, some bad, others perhaps neither one or the other, even down to what a swell 

 once did in the shires. Expecting a horse to meet him at the fixture, and there being 

 nothing to carry him, he walked the four miles, pink, leathers, and boots notwith- 

 standing ! We honom- his pluck and love of sport, but would rather not follow his 

 example. Thank goodness there is no necessity ; for awaiting ns are a couple of the 

 best conveyances a man can have to covert, in the shape of two high-bred hacks, four- 

 tecn-two, with quick, good action. Yes ; broad green lanes, an occasional cut across a 

 field or two for a nick, and a clever snafSe-bridle hack, against the world for going to 

 covert. But let us leave gossiping and get into the saddle. There is a sensation, as 

 the little one bounds beneath you, no mode of conveyance on wheels can give — not even 

 the much-lauded velocipede ; and though they can do thcrr ten or twelve miles an horn-, 

 it will be years (we hope) ere we see a man in pink guiding himself along to the 

 fixture astride one. Heavens, what an idea ! and how small he would look, di-aggiug his 

 two-wheeled steed up some steep hill that it refused to encounter imder his burden ! 

 But we are sku-ting ere the hounds are throMni into cover, and must get back once 

 more to om- neat hackneys and the green lanes. They are warmed up now and striding 

 away right merrily ; the brown with hind legs well beneath him, playing easily with his 

 bit and tossing the foam in showers over his neck and shoulders, while the chestnut lays 

 hold of his snaffle, and rakes away as though going for a plate across the flat. But lot us 

 turn short over that low stile ; it is nothing particular and both will do it well enough. 

 There is only a small drain, and big though firm bank, and wc are at the park gates. 

 Pretty fail- schooling, you may say, for little ones, but with good taking ofi' and the wind 

 in them, mere ponies will do wonders. It is after a bit of gallopiug that fences tell. 



No mistake, you see, and, as I prophesied, we are well over, and on the fine green 

 sward of the park. Here we enjoy another of those scenes that few countries but England 

 can show ; and as the mansion stands out in relief from the deep background of trees, no 

 one can fail to notice how much it is in character witli the expanse of water in the hollow, 

 where the river has been swelled almost to a lake, and the herds of deer that lie listlessly or 

 standing gaze intently on the passing strangers, imdcr the rough old thorn trees. Quiet 

 as they appear, try to approach them, and singling any buck from the herd send a bullet 

 through his heart or brain ; you will find it no easy matter, and will see that natural 



