100 SKE'J'CIIES JX THE HUXTING FIELD. 



I'm afraid we laughed ; the idea of Crookton so 

 angrily abusing his own horse from his own unexcep- 

 tionable dealer was too good to be resisted. 



It is freezing hard now, and Crookton is beyond all 

 doubt girding bitterly at the abominable weather. 

 Soon it will thaw, and then he will come out, and growl 

 savagely at the heavy ploughs, and the rides through 

 the coverts knee-deep in mud. In fine, Crookton — a 

 generous, good-hearted fellow when it comes to the 

 point — is a very pronounced type of that strange class 

 of people who are never happy unless they have some- 

 thing to be miserable about. 



