36 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



can do better than relate the particulars of the very last 

 run I saw with Mr. Meynell's hounds, rendered more 

 than commonly interesting, perhaps, by the part I myself 

 performed in it : 



" It was a beautiful morning for scent at least, so it 

 appeared, and, for once, it kept its promise ; but I thought 

 it would be a scenting day, for I observed the clouds were 

 stationary above, and all was clear below, with no sun ; 

 the barometer was also rising. We had a large field, it 

 being a favourite fixture ; and as I had the luck to tally- 

 ho the fox away, I, of course, got a good start. It 

 happened, however, that I this day rode a five-year-old 

 horse, the only one in my stable; for that tender age 

 agrees not with our shire. I had never had a taste of 

 him before ; but my groom had, and assured me he would 

 make a trump. ' He is as quick as lightning, 5 said he, 

 'and he will face anything ; but his temper, as you know, 

 sir, is none of the best. I would advise you, when you 

 can, to take a line of your own.' 



" Our first fence was a flight of rails, with a yawning 

 ditch on the further side, which I thought it was my luck 

 to have the first fly at ; but, looking earnestly at the 

 hounds, as every man should do, whether on a young 

 one or an old one, I never saw parson Thompson, who 

 came right across me at the fence, and got a nasty sort of 

 a fall. (By-the-by, he told me. afterwards, he 'could 



not stop the old mare, she was so d d fresh : ' if so, all 



well ; if not, served his reverence right.) I tried to stop 

 the young thorough-bred one ; but he threw up his head, 

 and it was ' no go ; ' so, thinking my own the most precious 

 life of the two, I mean, of more value to me than parson 

 Thompson's, I let him go ; and all I saw, when up in 

 the air, was the old mare's belly and his reverence's head, 

 the rest of his body being under his mare. However, I 

 never touched him, I am happy to say ; and two others, 

 besides myself, did as I did ; but the third was not quite 

 so fortunate. He jumped, as he thought, on the parson's 

 head ; but, as luck would have it, it was only his hat, as 

 his head had just that moment slipped out of it. You 

 are aware, Mr. Raby, these things will happen in our 

 very fast country, and are thought little of ; although it 

 is no joke to get a fall at the first fence, with such a 

 crowd behind you, each man trying to be in front, and 

 all as jealous as newly-married women at a ball. How- 



