^Nimrod ' 



* Don't be in a hurry,' cried Mr. Craddock ; ^ ' they are 

 drawing it beautifully, and there is rare lying in it.' These 

 words are scarcely uttered, when the cover shakes more 

 than ever. Every stem appears alive, and it reminds us of 

 a corn-field waving in the wind. In two minutes the sterns 

 of some more hounds are seen * flourishing ' ^ above the 

 gorse. ' Have at him there ^ holloas the Squire ' — the gorse 

 still more alive, and hounds leaping over each other's backs. 

 ' Have at him there again ^ my good hounds ; a fox for a 

 hundred ! ' reiterates the Squire ; putting his finger in his 

 ear, and uttering a scream which, not being set to music, 

 we cannot give here. Jack Stevens (the first whipper-in) 

 looks at his watch. At this moment * John White,' ' Val 

 Maher,' ' Frank Holyoake ' (who will pardon us for giving 

 them their noms-de-chasse)^ and two or three more of the 

 fast ones, are seen creeping gently on towards a point at 

 which they think it probable he may break. ' Hold hard, 

 there,' says a sportsman ; but he might as well speak to the 

 wind. ' Stand still, gentlemen ! pray stand still,' exclaims 



1 This gentleman resided within the Hmits of the Quorn hunt, and kindly 

 superintended the management of the covers. He has lately paid the debt 

 of nature. 



- Technical, for the motion of a hound's stern or tail, when he first feels 

 a scent, but is not sufficiently confident to oion^ or acknowledge it. 



^ When Mr. Osbaldeston had the Quorn hounds, three of the four packs 

 which hunted in the same county with his own were the property of noble- 

 men ; so, for the sake of distinction, his friends conferred on him the familiar 

 title of ' the Squire.' 



^ John White, Esq., of Park Hall, Derbyshire ; Valentine Maher, Esq., 

 a member of the Old Club ; and Francis Lyttleton Holyoake, Esq., of Studley 

 Castle, Worcestershire, but now Sir Francis Holyoake Goodricke, having 

 succeeded to the title and estates of the late Sir Harry Goodricke. 



i6s 



