90 



THE BEST OF THE FUN 



Post time is closing, and so must I, The run was far 

 from over ; but the rest was slow, though skilful and very 

 pretty hunting. A master of his art is Brindle.y — witness 

 that recovery when hounds had drifted hundreds of yards 

 beyond the line on the river-bank below Corballis — and 

 his manner of handling is quiet and clever in the extreme. 

 Well may his followers put him in the front place of his 

 craft. 



He worked on now by Kilbrue and Green Park, and 

 took his deer. 



By no means so exciting as my last previous experi- 

 ence with the Ward was the sport of Monday, 14th 

 March. While I dare not for a moment lay claim to full 

 acquaintance with the craft of stag-hunting, I know at 

 least enough to prevent my expecting a run every day — 

 though the percentage of good gallops is, I take it, greater 

 with the Ward than with any other pack, for the reason 

 that the deer go freely over the open banks, whereas 

 they will often hesitate before plunging through the thorn 

 fences of many parts of England, even running the whole 

 circle of a field in search of an outlet. 



On Wednesday their deer ran very crooked. More- 

 over, they had given him a very liberal start ; and, with 

 another heavy snowstorm on the point of bursting, 

 there was never scent enough to allow of hounds setting 

 him straight. 



I would rather take part in a fast run than a slow run 

 anywhere. But especially would I with " The Wards." 

 To begin with, the country, or, rather, its fences, are, to 

 my untutored mind, much more suited to pace than to 

 pottering. I can see plainly that others think the same. 

 The slower hounds go, the longer people hesitate, and the 

 closer they huddle one upon another to the spot where a 

 leader has gone, albeit the fence is banked and modelled 

 exactly the same throughout its length. 



Again (pardon me for saying it), the Ward field is not 

 the one of all others amid which the practice of riding 

 slowly and in your turn is exceptionally favoured. A 

 mere matter of habit — but a habit to which it does not 

 happen to have given close attention. Courteous, and 



