12 SPORT. 



fence, black as Erebus, with only one weak place 

 possible to bore through, which is luckily just in his 

 line, turns these left hand competitors into humble 

 followers, for at the pace hounds are going they 

 cannot regain their parallel positions. As time 

 goes on, similar accidents occur to the riders on 

 the rig^ht, and these, w^ith a fall or two and a refusal, 

 reduce the front line to two men only, our friend 

 on the left and one rival on the right. A ploughed 

 field, followed by a grass one, ridge-and-furrow 

 and uphill, makes our friend take a pull at his 

 horse, for the ridges are " against " or across him ; 

 they are high and old-fashioned, and covered with 

 molehills, while the furrows are very deep and 

 "sticky," causing even our skilled friend to roll 

 about rather like a ship at sea, and less practised 

 riders to broach-to altos^ether. As he labours 

 across this trying ground, " hugging the wind," so 

 to speak, as closely as he can, keeping the sails 

 of his equine craft just full and no more — with a 

 tight hold of his head, his anxious eye earnestly 



