1870—71.] THE PRINCE OF WALES AT MELTON. 25 



made for them. Col. Ellis is well up ; but the Prince's horse feels 

 the pace terribly, shows a latent temper of which he has given 

 signs before, sticks his head out, and refuses obstinately. The 

 ugliest line in the three counties would not stop Captain Riddell ; 

 but the horse of one equally hard has broken do\ra some time 

 ago, and Mr. Chapman is leading him along and cursing his 

 luck a mile behind. Two more " storming" oxers in succession 

 still further thin the field ; the forty-acre grazing grounds of 

 ridge- and-furrow call for steeplechasing condition ; and as they 

 enter the Hoby and Ragdale road, the company is choice indeed. 

 Was it due to failing breath or shaken legs that one noticed 

 three instances of doubling an oxer ? A hundred yards down the 

 road the leading rank pull up short for half a moment, then 

 sharp through the thick thorn fence, which the customers bore 

 at once in half-a-dozen places. What music rings out as the 

 charmers close up and race over the turf, eager for the blood they 

 feel to be just before them ! Scarcely so musical, but none the 

 less excitedly, comes the fierce yell of the huntsman as he cheers 

 them to the head, and with still increasing pace they strain 

 over the broad pastures. Following the valley, they head straight 

 for Shoby Scoles, Capt. Coventry, on a horse of Mr. J. Behrens', 

 sailing along on the right in the cool, determined style which 

 has placed many a good steeplechase to his credit ; Macbride is 

 close behind him, while just to the left are Sir Fred. Johnstone, 

 Mr. Ernest Chaplin, Capt. Barclay, Col. Kingscote, and Lord 

 Calthorpe. Half-a-dozen others are lying handy on either flank, 

 but one ought to be furnished, like a Chinese god, with 

 eyes all over one's head, to see everybody at such a time, 

 when, too, it takes more than any ordinary mortal's dis- 

 crimination to spot the weak place in each fence. "Who's 

 your hatter?" yells Sir Frederick, as a man comes piece- 

 meal through a thick old blackthorn, with his hat flattened on 

 his head like a mortar board. The retort follows in a practical 

 form from an unexpected quarter. Had he been able to see what 

 those behind him could, he would have known that the little 

 brown horse, who had been galloping and jumping better than 



