THE HAUGHTYSHIRE HUNT. 231 



horse cleared the table easily.* The bookmaker had been 

 laying the contemptuous odds of fifty to one against the 

 possibility of the horse succeeding, and the money Meredith 

 won over it was sufficient to set him on his feet again, and 

 he continued in the Service until last year, when he retired as 

 a General and a K.C.B. That's the incident I was thinking 

 of when I spoke, Miss Comely. Er — by the way, have you 

 seen Gravity about anywhere?" 



" Not lately, Duke," replied Adela, taking a comprehensive 

 look round. Adela felt that she had no use for Gravity at 

 that moment, and hoped he'd keep away. " He was feeding 

 Mrs. Joggletilt, in his Good Samaritan fashion, the last time 

 I saw him." 



" Oh," said His Grace, evidently relieved at the absence of 

 his attentive son's supervision. "And now we'll settle our 

 commercial transactions. Let me see, you backed Marmion 

 with me for half-a-dozen pairs of gloves — six and a quarter ? 

 Before to-morrow night, I hope that my debt of honour will 

 have been discharged. And now, my dear Miss Comely, I 

 want to say something to you which I have been on the point 

 of saying " 



" How do, Duke," called a voice from below. It was 

 that of Major Carrington, a member of the Haughty shire 

 Hunt. 



" Ah, how-de-do, how-de-do — d — nyou! " {sottovoce) replied 

 the Duke, fixing his glass in his eye to stare at the new 

 comer. Then, letting the monocle fall again, he resumed — 



* The main incident — the leap over the dining-table — took place in the 

 Rochester Room of the hotel mentioned in 1851, and Manning was the name 

 of the rider. 



