NERVE 127 



went on. At the end of a quarter of an hour 

 came a check, and I was somewhat surprised to 

 see my friend amongst us as we pulled up. But 

 my surprise was to be still greater ; hounds hit off 

 the line, and ran down a long field, at the bottom 

 of which was a yawner. Down went my friend at 

 the yawner, which he cleared in gallant style, and 

 he was one of the very few who saw the death of 

 the fox, having gone in front the whole of the 

 way. 



He has found his nerve again ! I must add 

 that he was always a fine horseman, and that his 

 nerve has never since failed him. 



I once heard a man chaffed for having lost his 

 nerve — rather a heartless thing to do, I think, for 

 it is none too pleasant to know that one has lost 

 one's nerve, and a man always tries to hide it 

 from himself as long as he can. The circum- 

 stances were as follows : — The man in question 

 had had a bad fall, but, keen as mustard, he was 

 out again as soon as possible. Hounds were run- 

 ning, and crossed a cramped but soft place, from 

 which there was a sharp climb out. It was a place 

 where an impetuous horse might come to grief, 

 and if, as was the case with the man in question, a 

 man had not the full use of his limbs, he might 

 easily have been seriously hurt. So he turned his 

 horse away from what was little better than a gap 

 — in other words, he funked it. And immediately 

 he was chaffed about his loss of nerve by two or three 

 men who would probably have never got on to a 

 horse again had they had such a fall as he had had, 

 and who certainly would not have ridden hunting 

 so soon after a bad fracture. Hounds did not run 

 long, and when they had killed their fox, they went 



