i62 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



lands) directly a fox broke covert, ought of itself to have 

 been sufficient warning of difficulties in store. Certainly 

 the surrounding fences had a most uncompromising look, 

 being great thorn fences stuck on high banks, with the 

 very vaguest surroundings. But according to precedent I 

 tacked myself on to the Master, and by him was safely 

 piloted for the next five minutes to the temporary haven 

 of Kyle. Indeed our progress thither was, I imagine, far 

 the simpler and safer ; for, as we gained the road that 

 runs beneath the covert of Kyle, our fellow-passengers 

 were dropping into it one by one, with a clatter as of 

 coals shot on to a pavement. I remember looking up as 

 a red coat crashed into the lane at my horse's nose, and 

 there, perched like a chamois on a topmost crag, was 

 Lady Southampton poising for a similar spring. 



The big dog-hounds — an excellent fox-killing pack, I 

 make bold to assert — were driving hard through the 

 undergrowth and bracken of Kyle, with a better scent 

 than yesterday. And, issuing beyond, we found ourselves 

 still amid wet, rough pastures, and heavy, straggling fences, 

 but with vigour and pace enough in the chase to make 

 those twenty minutes very bright and stirring, as we 

 sought for outlets here and there, and found them or 

 missed them according to our luck or incompetency. 



And now I will tell you how I, the alien, got on. The 

 same may, likely enough, happen to you — if you, too, go 

 as a stranger untaught. In my case I had already realised 

 that quite my fair share of immunity had been dealt out 

 to me during my three visits to Ireland. It was quite 

 time I had a lesson, and I accepted it not ungratefully. 

 The little black horse O'Connell was good enough for 

 anything, but he could no more see through a crowd of 

 brambles than I could. He knew that a big bank was 

 hid away somewhere beneath it ; and I — well, in Ireland 

 I am quite content to let my horse frame his own opinion 

 as to what particular combination of fence he may at that 

 moment be exploring. In this case the bank must have 

 been somewhat higher and steeper than either of us sup- 

 posed, for the next minute, instead of bounding off again 

 in the happy way I had pictured to myself, we were 



