104 THE CREAM OF LEICESTERSHIRE. [Season 



same regiment ; and no body of men can be more widely 

 scattered during the rest of the year. This is especially the 

 case with the [members of the Melton Hunt (so called). They 

 flock in with the winter from every imaginable quarter and 

 corner ; they spend the day in each other's company so 

 regularly, that an absentee is as certainly discovered as if a roll 

 was called. They join heart and soul in tlie one pursuit, 

 exchanging a thousand kindly offices, till there cannot but be a 

 strong bond linking them together ; each year the greeting 

 becomes warmer, and the meeting more keenly anticipated. 

 Then when the swallows return, they fly away again, scattering 

 far and wide to their several occupations or diversions. The 

 questions, "Where have you been?" and "What have 3'ou 

 been doing ? " are alone enough to find conversational food for 

 the first week of fresh intercourse. Many men have gathered 

 in from the North ; several have been taking their turn of guard 

 at St. James's — or, indeed, doing " sentry go" over the whole 

 of deserted and fashionable London during the last three 

 dreary months. One man has been to Vienna, will explain 

 German policy all the way to covert, and lecture on Japanese 

 pottery all the way home ; another has been at the seaside 

 with the .young'entr}' — but he has less to say for himself than 

 anj'one, except the unfortunate who has been spending his 

 summer, and prostituting his intellect, in teaching Cardwell's 

 young ideas how to shoot. 



But here at Kirby Gate, on this lovel}^ autunm morning, are 

 they all again — at least the main body of them, for some drop 

 in later on, and so, by accident or intent, avoid the extra perils 

 of the opening month. For Leicestershire in November is as 

 blind as Justice, as intricate, if not as mirth-i)rovoking, as the 

 Tichborne case— certes, if we had not just returned from a trip 

 to Bob Chapman and the city he takes under his wing, we had 

 been fined a hunter's worth for contempt of court ! Some few 

 have been in time for the last week or so of cubliunting, to 

 put in person the finishing touches on their studs, and to get a 

 feel of the saddle before commencing the campaign. But most 



