THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 173 



' past Boggart House, left Walton on the right, checked 

 ' near Walton Wood. The fox had been headed short, 

 ' recovered his line, hunted down Rudgate, making his 

 ' point again for Walton Wood. They rattled him hard 

 ' round the wood, away to the little covert at the bottom of 

 ' Wighill Park, and killed. One hour and thirty minutes. 

 'A good day's sport.' 



A few days of sharp frost made men fear that there was 

 about to be a repetition of the severe winters which had been 

 experienced during the few previous years, but the frost soon 

 broke up, and they were only stopped a day or two, resuming 

 operations on 



'December i6th. Wighill village. Hounds went on at twelve. 

 ' The frost broke up quickly. Found in Catterton Spring. 

 ' Ran nearly to the Wild Man, left Ann Buckle's on the 

 ' right, round Swann's Whin to Collier Hagg, Hutton 

 ' Thorns, Hutton Hall, past Marston village to Marston 

 • station, to ground under the railroad. A fresh fox bolted, 

 ' and hounds ran hard to Poppleton, Grange Wood, Hessay 

 'Whin, Hutton Thorns, and back to the drain at Marston 

 ' station. A couple of hounds had remained back in the 

 ' drain, bolted the fox after we had gone on, and killed 

 ' him. He was given up and broken by the pack, finishing 

 ' a most severe run of two hours and fifteen minutes.' 



There were other two or three frosty days in December, 

 but not much to take notice of, and good runs continued. 

 January began well, and one good run after another kept 

 hunting men in the best of spirits, though some perhaps 

 began to wonder how they were to get through the season 

 without replenishing their studs. On the 9th they had a very 

 nice hunting run from Riffa, killing in the gardens at Wood- 

 hall after a run of an hour and ten minutes, an eight-mile 

 point ; and on the 20th they had a severe day from Bickerton 

 Spring, finally losing their fox after two hours and fifteen 

 minutes' continuous running, having changed foxes more 

 than once. 



