SPRING WOODLANDS 449 



excellence of the run. A j^ood wood kind fox had been 

 fairly done to death, over a straight course and to the tune 

 of a holding scent and a sufficient pace. And thus, as I 

 said before, a fitting climax was put to Mr. VVroughton's 

 first and very successful season. May he be leader and 

 organiser in many more, and without the fell interference 

 of such arctic weather as that of yoinig '95. 



CHAPTER LXXII 



SPRING WOODLANDS 



Our seven days to date, April 18, 1895, have been as of 

 March, a month that in its characteristics of dust and 

 dryness had so far been spared us. Well into April has 

 winter brought us ; and fox-hunting continued at its best ; 

 but, since my last notes, a chill east wind and a frequent 

 hot sun have been incrusting the ground, wherever exposed, 

 and, it may be added, have been bronzing every face 

 within their reach, till womanhood now bears almost a 

 manly look, and manhood looks as if it had been earning 

 its living, by fox-hunting. 



Livelihood or extravagance, the pursuit will soon be 

 over ; our happy winter society dispersed to other scenes ; 

 and middle England left asleep. There yet remains here 

 a day or so with the Woodland Pytchley ; and at the 

 moment of writing the Atherstone have not quite con- 

 cluded their programme. Saturday 13th, with the latter 

 pack, gave us the pleasantest little item in open country. 

 They had met at Brinklow ; and the sun had beaten 

 fiercely upon them while they commenced the day upon a 

 good fox from the wood of All Oaks. With a knowledge 

 of the conditions of the day that stood him in good stead, 

 Reynard at once put several dusty cornfields between 

 himself and the Atherstone dog-hounds (a striking pack in 

 appearance, and vigorous in their work withal). So he 

 had run them out of scent before they could reach Wilcox's 

 Gorse, in the North W\arwickshire country. 



By the way — I did not mean to have penned it, the 



2 F 



