Hound and Horn in Jedforest 



CHAPTER I 



HOW THE NEWS CAME 



'• Werry good indeed! most beautiful I! in fact, wot honour 



I arrives at!"" — J. J. 



TWO horses in summer condition, big all over, 

 were coming in from early morning exercise, 

 and though they had only had a short two 

 hours of slow walking, both were sweating, and the 

 ridden one was slightly lathered on the neck and under 

 the saddle. 



It was rather more than midway between the hunt- 

 ing and the shooting seasons ; that period dull and 

 dead to the average hunting man, who, if he has 

 no other hobby to ride, finds he is then a weari- 

 ness to himself and a positive nuisance to his friends. 

 But to the man who delights in country sights and 

 sounds — and what true sportsman does not ? — no time 

 of the year in the country is dull or lifeless, and all 

 seasons, far from being flat or profitless, are big with 

 interest, and the days are often all too short for what 

 they bring. 



I had strolled stablewards before breakfast, as was 

 my wont on most mornings at this time, for two new 



A 



