A NEW DEPARTURE y$ 



their horse will kick him, and a hunt servant, gallop- 

 ing past in the execution of his duty, is by no 

 means safe. " Oh, but my horse won't kick," says 

 some one, in reply to whom it may be said that 

 the soberest hunter, when a good deal above him- 

 self, as at this time of the year he should be, is 

 never to be trusted. This is one thing which 

 people on steady-made hunters are constantly for- 

 getting, and " I never knew the old horse kick 

 before," won't mend a broken leg or bring a 

 promising puppy to life again. 



I can remember the time when the early days of 

 cub-hunting attracted no attention at all, and when 

 few people put in an appearance till the middle of 

 October. In those days in the Hunt with which 

 my lot was cast about twenty cards were all that 

 were sent out, if so many. In later years I should 

 think, though I am not quite certain, that there 

 were at least a hundred, and now the cub-hunting 

 fixtures are advertised. The sending out of cards 

 in a large country no doubt entails a great amount 

 of labour on the huntsman, who generally has it 

 to do, and it is very easy to miss a man, and some 

 people are apt to be touchy when missed. Then 

 again, the farmers like to see the cub -hunting 

 fixtures advertised in their local papers. They 

 say that only the hunting men amongst them get 

 cards ; that they seldom know when hounds are 

 coming their way, consequently they cannot be 

 prepared for them by moving any stock which 

 might be in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 coverts likely to be drawn. There is much in this 

 argument ; indeed, it is the only powerful argu- 

 ment in favour of a change of plan which I cannot 

 say that I like. 



