Fox-hunting 27 



for I could not hold the little brute !) attained 



the proud position of leading the field 



(it was over one of the best parts of North- 

 amptonshire), hounds ran down to, and crossed, 

 some jumping, some swimming, a biggish 

 brook. Pulling and fighting for his head the 

 young 'un went to his fate, and the pace felt 

 like forty miles an hour ! Up to within a 

 length we got, and then, too late, he tried to 

 "put on the brake" ; found it impracticable 

 to stop, and finally soused in, tail over head ! 



By the time we had finished our tug-of- 

 war, he in the water and I on the opposite 

 bank, a few bobbing black coats and one red 

 one disappearing over the brow of the opposite 

 hill were all the traces left of the field. 



Eochefoucauld says, " Philosophy triumphs 

 over future and past ills ; but present ills 

 triumph over philosophy," and at that junc- 

 ture I must confess that the thermometer of 

 my philosophy was below freezing-point. 



We were nine miles from everywhere. The 

 erstwhile corky four-year-old had not only 

 had the steam taken out of him, but was 



