46 HOUND AND HORN ; 



the plain unvarnished truth in all that relates to his 

 old friend, and to give his own accounts of his former 

 life pretty much in his own words, it would be but 

 mere book-makiDg were he to dress up a lot of exciting 

 stories with George Carter as the principal character ; 

 beside which, it would be one of the first things which 

 the honest old man would not only have condemned, 

 but held in the most supreme contempt. Still, there 

 are manv incidents which are as fresh in the writer's 

 memory as at the time of their occurrence, and as 

 notes respecting them were jotted down at the time 

 they are easily referred to, and the facts to which they 

 relate may be strictly relied on. I remember well the 

 first time George Carter assumed once more the red 

 coat and cap, and it was on this wise. He had begun 

 to come out pretty regularly with the Tedworth on 

 a Tuesday, as on that day they hunt on the Oare Hill 

 side of the country, that is, somewhere about Pewsey 

 Vale.- The whole of this is within easy reach of Milton, 

 and was generally the da}^ selected by George Carter 

 to meet his old friends with the old pack : but still 

 for a long time I could not prevail on him to appear 

 in his regular hunting dress. It was always '' No, sir ; 

 no, sir : I can ride just as well as I am." Whether it 

 was a kind of natural modesty — which was one of his 

 great characteristics — or from any other cause, I never 



