240 WHIP AND SPUR. 



first the element of surprise. Consequently, 

 though our initial leap was a modest one, I landed 

 with only one foot in the stirrup and with one 

 hand in the mane ; but I now saw that Dick was 

 but another name for Max, and this one moderate 

 failure was enough to recall the old tricks of the 

 sraft. As the opportunity would perhaps never 

 come again, this one was not to be neglected, 

 and I resolved to have one fair inside view of real 

 fox-hunting. Dick was clearly as good a horse as 

 was out that day ; the leaping was less than that 

 to which we were used among the worm-fences, 

 fallen timber, and gullies of Arkansas and Ten- 

 nessee ; and there was but a plain Anglo-Saxon 

 name for the only motive that could deter me 

 from making the most of the occasion. Mr. Lant, 

 the Master of the Hounds, was not better mounted 

 for his lighter weight than was I for my fourteen 

 stone ; and his position as well as his look indi- 

 cated that he would probably go by the nearest 

 practicable route to where the fox might lead, so 

 we kept at a safe distance behind him and well in 

 his wake. The hesitation and uncertainty which 



