ROUGH AND TUMBLE 323 



and laugh till my own turn came, when, slipping carefully 

 through the hole made by one of them, out of very grati- 

 tude 1 did what little I could towards retrieving his horse. 

 Hounds had kindly lingered by the way ; so, after a 

 couple of miles' galloping, we easily reached them, by 

 the right of Winwick Warren, and before the play again 

 warmed up. Pace improved vastly as the chase went on 

 almost to the Thornby Spinnies, over a broken and water- 

 split, but grassy country, wherein Mr. Murland's Irish 

 experience stood him in good stead, and the grey con- 

 stituted a good beacon. Our fox now bent up to the 

 Cold Ashby road ; and, whether headed or not, ran it back 

 for nearly two miles till he had passed Winwick Warren 

 on the return journey. Entering the country again beside 

 Mr. Atterbury's house, he chose us a course of exceptional 

 strength, just as horses (at all events those that had done 

 the day's work through) began to show signs of enough. 

 However, men were not to be denied, and the result — 

 harmless enough to allow of a comical side — was funny 

 in the extreme. It is computed that at least twenty men 

 took their fate unflinchingly. One after another went 

 down, till it became almost a disgrace to remain with a 

 coat unsoiled. For each ungapped fence in turn had to 

 be bored or broken, and whoever undertook the task 

 almost invariably fell in the effort (I am not sure but that 

 one bold pilot went aground quite four times). Thus, 

 with hounds running happily, we regained Buckby Folly 

 just before dusk, and again at about an hour from the 

 start. Goodall then, very sensibly, stopped hounds, though 

 his fox was already viewed within the covert. So ended a 

 right pleasant day. 



By-the-bye, rumour has it that the nomination of a 

 field veterinary surgeon is a likely contingency. That his 

 office would be no idle sinecure will readily be accepted 

 by all who have witnessed the catastrophes that have be 

 fallen horseflesh during the weeks just past. But the 

 quaintest instance of how valuable would be the presence 

 of the professional scientist was furnished after the Shuck- 

 burgh run of the Warwickshire on Thursday week. It is 

 no fanciful joke that I am about to relate, but a true brief 



