Season 1874— ro.] A FllOST BROKEN WINTER. 143 



the veiy next da^y. The ground behig inches deep in snow, 

 there Avas little fear for the hounds ; hut had accident be- 

 fallen an\' of the little band who rode with them, I question 

 if thej^ could have persuaded the insurance companies 

 that this feat did not come under the head of the unre- 

 cognised " extraordinar}' risks." We nearl}- all insure in 

 Leicestershire now, by the way. Tliere is something very 

 comforting, even to the most romantic mind, to know that 

 when you are wincing under a squeezed rib you are thereby 

 earning an honest penny ; while, as for some few brittle indi- 

 viduals Ave could name, they make a handsome yearly addition 

 to their income by this means. It has been proposed to the 

 companies that the}^ should extend their operations to our 

 studs ; but to this they one and all allege that tliey are not at 

 present in sufficiently wealthy circumstances to admit of their 

 undertaking this branch of the business. 



But to return to Mr. Tailby, who met his field (some five 

 or six in number) at Stonton Wyvil, Capt. Whitmore driving 

 to covert in a sleigh. In addition to the pleasures of the 

 snow, which lay knee deep in the furrows, a dense fog pre- 

 vailed, in the midst of Avhicli the hounds were thrown into 

 Sheepshorns, and found their fox immediately. Being unable 

 to do anything with him, they were taken on to Nosely, and 

 the scent being fortunately (?) as much opposed to hunting as 

 the elements, pursuers and pack were never far separated, 

 and spent the rest of the afternoon round there and Billesdon. 

 The most remarkable feature of all was that, thougli the 

 horses plunged and stumbled blindly through the snow drifts, 

 and the whole was enacted in an atmosphere wherein vision 

 was often limited to a few yards, not a horse or hound was 

 lamed, nor a hound lost, and the whole part}^ returned home 

 scatheless. 



