A YOUNG HUNTING LADY. 27 



next time was the last that Miss Kitty accompanied her 

 quondam guide. 



We did not get away on this morning, or rather on 

 this afternoon, until after a tedious delay and a weari- 

 some journey through several coverts with correspond- 

 ing waits outside, and soon after the welcome " Tally- 

 ho ! " was heard the pair found themselves in a large 

 field with no perceptible way out. They had come in 

 by means of a very flat gap, which seemed to have 

 vanished, and the easiest apparent outlet was over a 

 hurdle. The cob and his master alike regarded as ridi- 

 culous such a proceeding as jumping ; but those seduc- 

 tive pink coats were still in sight. Miss Kitty's horse, 

 though tractable, gave symptoms of impatience, and, 

 disdaining to ride round the field again in search of the 

 gap, she proclaimed her inclination to try the hurdle. 



Her old friend was somewhat apt to be didactic, as 

 Miss Kitty was to be impatient, and before he could 

 formulate the reasons which induced him to caution her 

 against such a proceeding, and adduce examples of 

 persons who had shattered themselves in divers ways by 

 such rash exploits. Miss Kitty affected to assume that 

 he was coming, and with an *' I'll go first, shall I ? " 

 negotiated the hurdle with considerable ease. 



She did not knock her nose this time, and only de- 

 ranged the position of her hat sufiiciently to convince 

 her of the wisdom of Scatterly's injunction to "sit well 

 back ; " and now felt justified in taking her place in the 

 ruck which forms the main body of most hunting fields. 



