AN AFTER-DINNER SPORTSMAN. 105 



mean. Then judgment is the result of experience, and, 

 of course, I've had a good deal of experience in hunting". 

 Well, good-bye, old man ; it's rather damp on the 

 grass, and I must be getting on. Good, morning, 

 Mr. Rapier. We shall meet to-morrow, I dare say?" 



"Did he jump that fence?" I ask, as we canter 

 along. 



"Jump it? No, not he. Scrambled through and got 

 over the ditch, and vows he flew the whole thing with a 

 few yards to spare. The queerest part of the business 

 is that he really believes what he tells you. A¥e shall 

 see him out to-morrow, but you won't see him jump 

 many big fences. I believe he left Staffordshire because 

 they chaffed him so, though I can't make out what they 

 said to him ; for he never seems to see the most out- 

 rageous joke at his own expense, just as he swallowed 

 what I said about his riding." 



Next morning we met at the Cross Roads, and early 

 on the spot was Fluffyer, gorgeously arrayed in spotless 

 pink, the whitest of buckskin breeches, the shiniest of 

 boots with delicate cream-coloured tops, these latter 

 being shielded from splashes of mud by a species of 

 apron attached to leathern wings fastened to the 

 saddle on each side. He was mounted on a well-bred 

 brown mare, a likely-looking hunter of apparently a 

 very temperate disposition. We exchanged greetings, 

 and I made some complimentary remarks about his 

 mount. 



" Yes," he admitted, with a thin assumption ot 



