A " SWELLr 77 



the country, he is seldom absent, and invariably profuse 

 in his offers of hospitality. 



Tourneymeade is undoubtedly a good rider, at any 

 rate so far as getting safely over a country goes; though 

 of course his horses are all made hunters of high repu- 

 tation, and he rarely has more to do than sit down in 

 his saddle and trust to their discretion and knowledge 

 of their business. 



The story goes that one day, when out on a raw 

 young Irish horse which had come from that island 

 with a great character, founded upon undiscernible 

 grounds, after several contentions, obstinately fought 

 out on both sides, as to the desirability of jumping 

 fences, Tourneymeade pulled up and dismounted, turned 

 the animal adrift with a cut of the whip, declaring that 

 it was less trouble to walk than ride a brute like that ; 

 and after sitting on a gate and smoking for a con- 

 siderable time, hoping that his second horseman would 

 bring him something to go home on, at least, if the 

 hounds were lost for the day, that he strolled towards 

 the nearest village where a fly was procurable, and went 

 back on wheels. 



There is, I think, some consolation to poor men in 

 the reflection that two or three horses, bought with 

 deliberation and studied with patience, afford much 

 more genuine pleasure and amusement to their master, 

 who is proud of them, than such a man as Tourney- 

 meade can possibly derive from a large stud, the 

 individual members of which he only knows by name — 



