TAKING THE FLOOR 415 



speaker spun prone to the other. It was fully half a 

 minute before I dare let forth the unseemly burst of laughter 

 evoked by the contretemps ; and even then was hardly 

 justified, save by the cool comment with which he 

 remounted, " It doesn't hurt so much as I thought to fall 

 upon a road." No, my friend, you fell different ways, 

 and with never a leg of yours under. Good luck to you. 



If the present be a slack time 'tis only an accident, 

 attributable to the vagaries of our climate. Were we per- 

 mitted our daily hunting, we should find at each meet 

 many welcome faces that appear only for a brief 

 while, and at this particular period, to brighten our ball- 

 rooms and enliven our covertsides. Prompted by what I 

 learn with every Hunt in whose sport I have the privilege 

 of occasionally sharing, I shall risk the impertinence of 

 repeating that in the present day it is the Poultry Fund of 

 each country that does most to clear the way, and to make 

 the country safe riding for us and our friends. Thus, 

 every penny contributed to this object may well be looked 

 upon as personal insurance. I need not put it any 

 plainer. He who rides may read. I still earnestly hope 

 to see, with each pack, the opportunity given for every 

 non-member of the Hunt to put his sovereign into the 

 bag. This method would be far more gratifying to the 

 donor, apparently much cheaper, and obviously less 

 trouble to him than writing and posting a cheque. 



You cannot say that of late weeks you have not had 

 time to read the papers. If by any chance you missed, in the 

 Field of January 19, the instructions of the Master of the 

 Genesee Valley Hunt to his followers, pray look them up 

 and digest them. They will repay the trouble, may do 

 you some practical good, and are none the less palatable 

 for being wrapped in genuine American humour. 



And now, as I can no longer bear to look upon a stud 

 of idle horses, I have taken passage for their proprietor by 

 to-night's Irish Mail, and "am off to Tipperary in the 

 morning." " A grand run on Tuesday," they telegraph to 

 me, from that warm and hospitable country. 



