THE OLD ORDER CHANGES 



any. But when we got to the gorse we lost him, and we lost 

 time too, which was quite as bad — drawing, and drawing, and 

 all to no purpose. So then we went to Campley Wood, and 

 before the hounds were half through it, 'gad ! sir, out there 

 came a big old fox. So we laid them on, and away, like fun, 

 by Claverton Grange, and over the hill above Baddesley Pool, 

 and down again by Nether Twycross, and then we came to a 

 sort of check — and once we thought we had fairly lost him ; 

 but old Cutty made a cast — a devilish good one — and again 

 we were on him, and away across the grass fields by Craw- 

 ford. 'Gad ! you should have seen us then ! We all streamed 

 down in rank — no choosing or gap-hunting, every man took 

 his fence as it lay before him, and away we went, like devils, 

 over the new enclosures on Penderton Edge. 'Gad ! sir, 

 didn't we go the pace ! The pace kills — nothing like going 

 it. Ah ! you should have been with us then. But we had 

 not much of that, for then he took us across the low grounds 

 by Muddyford and Sludgeley Bottom — stiff, heavy country — 

 infernal bad going — up to the shoulders pretty nearly — most 

 of the horses were dead beat before they came out of it. 

 Well, then we got up on Dartington higher level, and the 

 Badsworth country — ugly work so late in the day — but no 

 matter, nothing stopped us. Didn't we charge them ! ox 

 fences, double fences, and all, my boy. You should only 

 have seen us — that's all ! Well, sir, here we gained upon 

 Pug, and within half a mile of Dingley Coppice we viewed 

 him, sir, we viewed him — beat, quite beat. I knew he was — 

 I said he was. " Fifty to one," says I, " he does not reach the 

 wood." No more he did. On we went, and in two minutes 

 more ran into him, in the middle of a grass field. Wh-hoop ! 

 glorious, by Jove ! Have not seen a better thing this twelve- 

 month. There was nobody in but I, Jack Hammer, old Cutty, 

 Floxton, Dick Derby, and Cutty's Ned. You should only have 

 seen the fellows behind, scattered, by two or three in a field, 

 over the country for the last two miles. Oh, it was a regular 

 hard run. That second fox was such a tough one ! Look here, 

 I've brought away one of his holders^ and so saying, he pulled 

 a tooth out of his waistcoat pocket. * An old stager, wasn't 



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