WILL GOODALL'S LAST GALLOP 447 



round the outskirts of the village, and from that moment 

 set his head for the Pytchley Woodlands. There were 

 intricate little corner paddocks beneath the village, if you 

 were foolish enough to follow hounds through them. But 

 there was a clear open course, again, directly Goodall had 

 his pack out upon the pastures beyond ; and over these 

 they ran hotly, the Master giving us a directing lead, till 

 they dipped to the Market Harboro' and Northampton 

 road, which they crossed barely half a mile from the 

 former important city of the chase. A ploughed field 

 hindered a moment (the astonishing scent of the day 

 refusing to lend itself to the plebeian arable) ; but, once 

 beyond this, hounds forged ahead upon the grass, leaving 

 us first to unlock the white gates of the London and 

 North-Western line of railway, next to pop under the 

 Midland, without any great loss of time. " Follow Frank 

 Underwood " was the word ; and he led us through these 

 intricacies rapidly, till in company with hounds we reached 

 the Kettering road, behind Mr. Kennard's house The Barn, 

 there to find progress for the moment stayed by a locked 

 gate. Mr. De W^inton was first to help us out of the 

 difficulty, by boring through the dense bullfinch into the 

 road ; and was at Dingley (a mile further on) before a 

 score of us had wriggled through in pursuit. Of these 

 latter, by the way, one had scarcely ceased to wriggle even 

 on reaching the valley beneath Dingley Wood. I don't 

 fancy that his contortions caught the eye of any but myself, 

 who happened to come struggling exactly in his wake, so 

 I shall scarcely be betraying his identity if I venture to 

 describe the very funniest fall I have seen during my years 

 of experience in the hunting field. His horse was already 

 on the farther side of the prickly and new-plashed hedge. 

 But he was not quite — why, I know not, unless his steed 

 had shot him first and jumped after at his leisure (not a 

 wholly unknown experience in these parts). His coat-tails 

 were over his head, and so were his arms, outstretched to 

 grasp, with admirable pluck and tenacity, the reins of his 

 struggling horse. To all appearance, as one rode up from 

 behind, he was swimming for his life, his weight supported 

 upon a sea of thorns ; and nought but a pair of Mr. 



