THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 119 



short to the left, which gave our horses some relief. A 

 judicious cast soon put us to rights again, and away we 

 went, at our former speed, to Hoby Town ; and straight 

 from thence to Frisby Gorse, where, fortunately, we once 

 again came to a check ; for the pace and the country were 

 both awfully severe. Many of the horses, indeed, had 

 already declined, and two received their eternal quietus, 

 from meeting with accidents at fences. 



"Our fox hung just long enough in Frisby Gorse to 

 give the horses that were up, second wind, and away we 

 went again, up to Haines's Gorse, near Great Dalby, at a 

 slashing pace ; thence, over a splendid country, to Gadsby, 

 when John Raven caught view of him, in a large grass 

 field, with almost every hound close at his brush. He 

 contrived, however, to reach the fence ; and, slipping short 

 down wind, got amongst some old farm buildings in a 

 village, and once more brought the pack to check. The 

 scent was again recovered, by some masterly casts of the 

 ' old one,' who never appeared to greater advantage as a 

 superior judge of fox-hunting, than he did on that day. 

 After forty minutes' cold hunting, we found ourselves 

 close to Queenborough village, with very little apparent 

 chance of again getting near to this most gallant fox, 

 when one of the most singular circumstances occurred 

 that was ever recorded in the annals of English fox- 

 hunting. 



" Everyone who knows Meynell, is aware of his in- 

 vincible perseverance in doing everything that can be 

 done towards killing his fox ; and in this case he was 

 determined not to give the smallest chance away. It 

 occurred to him, that our fox had either got into a drain, 

 or entered some out-building, in the village of Queen- 

 borough, which determined him on once more trying to 

 recover him. He, therefore, walked his hounds 'quietly 

 among the houses, and, as he passed the church, two or 

 three couples of his hounds entered the yard. Amongst 

 these was our friend Champion, who almost instantly 

 threw his tongue on a scent. 'He is among the dead!'' 

 exclaimed Meynell ; and, putting his horse at the wall, 

 he rode over it in his usual cool and beautiful style. The 

 fox had actually taken possession of a newly-made grave, 

 from out of which he jumped apparently as fresh as when 

 first found ; afforded us another burst, exceeded by pace 

 and severity of country only by that from Frisby Gorse 



