THE HUNTSMAN'S MONTH 223 



more than I, braving it out, pale and shivering, in un- 

 protected pink and breeches bedrenched. Yes, and women 

 too ; no, a million pardons, I mean they were braver than 

 we, and quite as wet, quite as cold and miserable, in 

 habits unprotected, and with tempers apparently unruffled. 

 Cectainly, in some instances they had intangible veils with 

 which in some degree to shield their faces against the 

 darting sleet that at times drove and irritated us all w^eli- 

 nigh to madness. I pretend not to gauge the feelings of 

 others by my own sensations. But now and again, as 

 mv eyes smarted and my vision was gone, as my horse 

 turned from the storm, and the next fence was (to give 

 mv printer a fair turn) like a line of my own manuscript 

 tiiat I have smudged and rewritten at score, I felt that I 

 would have given the world to loose off ill humour some- 

 where, anywhere. Impossible in such company, where 

 give-much-and-take-all-that-is-necessary is the implicit and 

 genial rule of observance, neglected not even on such a 

 day of trial as this. 



Even a Pytchley field rode in subdued form this 

 morning. They left Kilworth Sticks with none of the 

 uncontrolled vehemence that here so frequently threatens, 

 occasionally overwhelms, hounds. They could not see 

 the fences, and accordingly hounds were permitted to get 

 comfortably through them first. 



But I will not detain you long as to Wednesday morn- 

 ing. Goodall soon found he was hunting a vixen, and let 

 her go. Later in the day his work began in earnest from 

 one of the Misterton Spinnies, and continued, after a sharp 

 beginning, very steadily over a wide range of ground that 

 comprised the parishes of Swinford, Stanford, Catthorpe, 

 and Shawell, a change of foxes (I imagine at Misterton 

 Gorse) at last robbing him of blood nearly earned. There 

 were no very leading features in this well-worked chase of 

 an hour and a half's duration, beyond the weather that I 

 have described, the occasional depth of ground, and the 

 number of rabbit-holes altogether indescribable. These 

 were the drawbacks. Pleasure was to be found in a great 

 deal of exceedingly pretty hunting, and in the survey of 

 the better ground, which, after all, largely predominated. 



