2 26 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



tail with the Q. H. buttons," and betook me for a hoHday. 

 For once I filled the role of a bird of good omen — for did 

 I not drop in for the merriest gallop that the Quorn have 

 scored since Christmas ? For me it only remains to 

 express gratitude for a thorough treat, and to go to bed 

 wishing that a slashing scent, a bold fox, a superb country, 

 a sufficient horse, and the huntsman I toast in a nightly 

 bumper, were one's everyday portion. Ah me ! How^ 

 then would one ever contemplate with content the crossing 

 of any more final Styx than the amenable Smite ? ^ 



CHAPTER XXXII 



A GREAT WEEK 



Monday, February 27, 1893, was not only a charming 

 hunting day, but was rich in sport. Probably the second 

 event of that day will take rank with anything in the 

 Grafton record, of the season now waning. In a chase 

 that lasted two hours, hounds ran hard and hunted hard 

 for quite an hour and a half. I am puzzled to define the 

 extreme points of a run that was within three miles of 

 completing its circle. But from Everdon Hill to the spot 

 where hounds made their nearest approach to Gayton is 

 not less than seven miles and a half. 



The Knightley Wood run of the Grafton I suppose they 

 will denominate this. Had it been straight, it would have 

 been by no means unlike that of the Pytchley of three 

 years before. As it was, the continued bend allowed many 

 more people to get to the end than if hounds had kept 

 their heads straight. I speak feelingly ; for most certainly 

 I could never, with the ground in its present awful state, 

 have brought a fat four-year-old as far as Grubb's Copse, 

 had the line been ruled out to its full length. A smooth, 

 hard road was, in some cases, of invaluable assistance 

 during the final mile or two ; while from the standpoint 

 of its sound surface you might see horses walking faintly 

 or standing riderless in every field between Ascott Thorns 



^ F/^c "Quorn Season, 1892-93/' p 280. 



\ 



