116 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



medico who rode not an ounce over eight stone, was 

 not so fortunate, for although his clever little blood mare 

 landed on the right side of the brook, the undermined 

 bank gave way under her weight, and she fell into the 

 discoloured water with a broken back. 



Having ascertained that the doctor was unhurt, and 

 being unable to render him any assistance, we sat down to 

 ride again; for so fast was the pace that hounds were 

 running almost mute. Gad ! how hounds flew that day ! 

 And such a head did they carry that the proverbial sheet 

 would almost have covered them. 



But never was there such a silent hunt. Scarcely 

 a note of music, and never a cheer nor a halloa was 

 heard from the time they were put into covert, nearly 

 thirty minutes before. 



Hounds suddenly turned off left-handed and pointed to- 

 wards Sanders' farm, which lay but a short half-mile ahead. 

 There soon they checked in the stackyard, utterly at 

 fault, and although the huntsman did everything possible 

 to assist them, they seemed quite unable to puzzle out 

 another yard of the line. A buxom woman now appeared 

 on the scene, and walking up to the Master, opened as 

 follows : " Oh, sir ! that lazy varmint Dick forgot to 

 take the vox Maister Sanders sent over last night out of 

 the bag, and this marnin' when my good man loosed 

 him in the stackyard, as Maister Sanders told he to do, 

 the poor creetur wor that stiff and bad he couldn't 

 hardly crawl, and so we put him into a pail o' warm water, 

 but it didn't seem to do him no sort o' good 'cept to make 

 snap and prowl loike a madun, so we shut 'un up in the 

 granary. But Oi do hope as yew 'ont give him to the 

 'ounds, sir/' 



