A DAY WITH THE DUKE 73 



noticed : " The old Duke's a brick, but Freddy Elliot's 

 a prig. He does swagger so about a brush he's got 

 at home, some poor cub's likely, or a mangy vixen's," 

 he continued, as an afterthought. " By-the-bye, Mr. 

 Kerr, it was jolly decent of you to wait and girth up 

 cousin Florence, and tie her tie, as I saw you doing 

 in the stackyard at Harestanes, just as the hounds 

 were going away." 



This interjection threw some light on Billy's absence 

 from the afternoon spurt. 



" Be off to bed with you, you young whelp," said 

 Billy, taking him by the shoulder and hustling him 

 out of the room. 



After the ladies had retired, the talk was prolonged 

 till past midnight. It sometimes passed away tem- 

 porarily from horses and hounds, but always drifted 

 back to this oft-travelled channel, and from all sides 

 reminiscences came ready and rife. The Duke's 

 huntsman came in for a full share of the discussion. 



^' How did you like him ? " said I to Captain 

 Richards. 



" I think it would be well worth riding fifty miles 

 on a rough horse if only to have a look at him, the 

 way he sits his horse, and the way he winds his 

 scarf round his neck. He's a hard-bitten purpose- 

 like old man ; looks a workman and a bit of a char- 

 acter too." 



" He's all that," came from several voices ; and 

 then some recollections of him were given. 



'* I remember," said the Major, *' coming upon him 

 standing at the edge of the big wood at Bailliestane 

 on a very windy day, when, for the time being, we 

 were out of sight and hearing of hounds. He was 



