A FEW HINTS 95 



As soon as ever it was determined not to hunt, men 

 began larking all over the place, and one party 

 started off, taking the country before them, jump- 

 ing the fences more or less cleanly, here perhaps 

 breaking a rail, there knocking through some dead 

 hedging, damage which would have been perfectly 

 legitimate had hounds been running, but which 

 certainly annoyed the occupiers of the land, and 

 justly so, in my opinion. And then the offence 

 was aggravated by the fact that the delinquents 

 were strangers, men who did not subscribe to the 

 hunt or own a yard of land within its limits. It is 

 probable that they did not do so very much harm, 

 but that is beside the question. It is also probable 

 that if the farmers had been politely asked, their 

 consent would have been freely given for the 

 larking gallop. But they were not asked, and as 

 an Englishman naturally resents a liberty, there is 

 not the slightest doubt that they would sooner 

 have seen a field of two hundred crossing their 

 land after hounds than the three or four men, 

 whose faces were unfamiliar and whose names un- 

 known, who took it upon themselves to ignore 

 their rights. 



