174 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



now the plough side of the pack. There were other men 

 dashing inside upon the grass. Yet our course was 

 plain sailing enough, and the pride of place ought to 

 have been ours, as we demonstrated plainly enough to 

 one another, for mutual comfort, afterwards. At any 

 rate it added fuel to the lire of pace that hounds kept 

 bearing all the while from us and to the others. At 

 this time we were heading nearly due north, and 

 squeezing every effort possible out of our straining 

 steeds. As we splashed the wet yellow furrow, and 

 pulled them together for the width and the ox-rail that 

 border a field-road hereabouts, it seemed, in the flash 

 of memory, as if poor Bay was still leading us in the 

 gallop, as he led us at this very spot only a couple of 

 seasons ago. Then, as I raised my eyes now, and 

 stretched them down the fifty-acre greensward, there 

 were Mr. Wallis and Miss Fenwick just emerging from 

 the bottom and flying up the next great pasture, with 

 hounds close parallel on their left. We had believed 

 this bottom to be a big, ugly jump ; but it was good 

 enough where they had struck it ; and right gladly did 

 we all avail ourselves of the lead. Bending still more, 

 hounds now pointed for Walcote — and, we hoped, to 

 Misterton — a whole bevy of riders chiming in within the 

 half-circle. But the twenty minutes' fierce driving had 

 practically burst our fox, and he doubled as he reached 

 the road that leads into Walcote. With a minute thus 

 lost, it required Goodall's help to carry hounds on to 

 Swinford and past Mr. Gilbert's house ; and it called for 

 all their own hunting power to make good their line on the 

 Shawell road beyond. After this the game worked itself 

 out like the final cards of Solitaire (if you happen to know 

 that study of Patience invented especially for overwrought 

 business men and overstrung huntsmen). The pack 

 rattled on past the kennels of Mr. Cross's harriers. (You 

 can imagine the uproar as they awoke to the propinquity 

 of the chase in full cry !) Thus to Shawell, and to a kill 

 in mid-village. Time, as 1 have said, some fifty minutes. 

 May we have many more like it, and, if some be better, 

 we may scarcely hope that none may be worse. 



