LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK 147 



he is within three strides — both ears cocked and both spurs 

 in I Nay, I will lower six inches, but never another inch, 

 an' I have to prove it at pistol point. Well, it was death 

 or degradation now, and no time to balance the account. 

 So I gave the old horse a strong pull, gripped him tight 

 between my nervous knees, chose my panel some three 

 lengths from my instigator, and sat still for the result. 

 Rugged and awful loomed the ponderous top-rail, on a 

 level with my horse's ears, one of which — ill omen — was 

 twinkling towards the exemplar on our right. A moment 

 more, and \\q seemed right under the frowning barricade ; 

 then a hoist, a bang, a prolonged quiver, but no fall, 

 though a yard of turf was ploughed up, and the de- 

 monstrator turned quietly in his saddle for a smile and a 

 word of encouragement. 



They have a habit, it seems, with the Hunt in question 

 — and a habit not altogether unwarranted — of leaving to 

 the Master, in his capacity as huntsman, the responsibility 

 of showing the way to his field. And here, as elsewhere, 

 his is the duty and business of obtaining room for his 

 hounds ; and as here he is likely to know as much about 

 the probable line as any one, the etiquette is justifiable from 

 every point of view. At the same time it is a high trial 

 to put upon him who plays second, or third, or minor 

 fiddle, that he has to play exactly the same tune as the 

 professor w^hose first fiddle is an instrument of unexception- 

 able merit. Were it my fortune to become a habitual 

 member of this gallant orchestra, fain would I bargain that 

 the leader should occasionally, if not usually, wield his 

 powerful bow upon a fiddle of less exemplary tone. As it 

 is, however, whither he leads the others invariably follow, 

 resining their bows manfully, and picking themselves up 

 undauntedly when for the moment knocked out of time or 

 tune. And horse as well as man adapt themselves to the 

 custom, and so almost involuntarily attach themselves to 

 his lead. 



Meanwhile old Straduarius — I mean Hempstead — had 

 swung quickly to the right in the track of hounds, and 

 cantered easily over another such hair-riser as the post- 

 and-rails preceding. Shipmate this time was well in his 



