202 SKETCHES IN THE HUNTLXG FIELD. 



yard into which the animals had just been led. A lively 

 little bay mare, and a long, j^owerfid, short-legged .chest- 

 nut horse, with a lean head and a w^ell-bred looking 

 neck, set into a pair of perfect shoulders. 



" What do you think of him, Straightley r " Dick asked, 

 as he finished the rum and milk which had been sub- 

 stituted for sherry, and took up his hunting crop from 

 the table. 



" Looks likely enough, sir, and would be a good deal 

 better for a fortnight's work," ]\Iat answered, as he 

 opened the door, and hurried on to speak to the boys 

 who were leading the animals down the lane. 



"I'm deuced anxious about the 15th, Dick; for if I 

 don't pull it off I shall be in a very nasty hole, I can tell 

 you," Lord Beauclerc confided to his friend, as they 

 followed. " Besides, it would be a pleasure to get a pull 

 out of Heidenberg. I've dropped more than I like to 

 think about to that fellow in the last six months : and 

 though I don't mean to say anything against his honesty, 

 the w^ay he got hold of the kings that night we played 

 ecartc at his place was — well, it was unusual ! I'm glad 

 that I'm not going to ride, myself, at Kenilworth, for I 

 should be so nervous, and Rosendale won't make a 

 mistake." 



"You don't mean to tell me that you, ' the pillar of a 

 ducal house,' as Manners calls you, could be made 

 uncomfortable by the loss of a few hundreds ? " Dick 

 remarked. 



"Yes, I'm a pillar^ all right ; but I'm a pillar without 



