150 THE CREAM OF LEIOESTERSHIllE. [Seasok 



of to-mon'ow, even with tlie penalty of whipping off. So a 

 further turn to the right again put their heads for Thorpe 

 Brussels, and with another twenty minutes they reached it, 

 after traversing some of the choicest country of the hunt. 

 Touching Ashhy viUage on their road, they made good the 

 covert from which they had started, after fift3'-five minutes of 

 the hest and severest type. It is next to impossible to kill a 

 fox in the scentless covert of I'horpe ; so the day ended by 

 leaving him there unharmed. Of those who rode from end to 

 end I ma}^ he allowed to mention (leaving out those already 

 named) that the jNIaster never went better, that Lord Clarendon 

 (who, I should say, has seen as much as, if not more, of the 

 whole week's sport than anyone else) was one of the pioneers 

 throughout, Lord Wicklow held a good place, and Capt. King, 

 Mv. Hassall, and Cajit. Grimstone lent their presence to each 

 yard of it. 



Friday, January 29th, was essentially Colonel lUu'naby's 

 Day ; for was it not his lawn meet, his breakfast, his unfailing 

 little covert, his fox that Avas galloped to death in the morning, 

 and his fox that closed an early afternoon so satisfactorily ? 

 ]hi"u;rave Covert first resounded to the horn only a little before 

 twelve o'clock, and by two a brace of foxes had l)een fairly run 

 into and horses and hounds pronounced to have done fully 

 enough. The early part of the first run, fast now and again, 

 consisted of a half-hour's ring by ]^)arkby Holt and through 

 the parish of Hungerton. J5ut when hounds got back to the 

 covert thej' set the ball rolling again in a nnich more lively 

 fashion ; for they forced their game to break again almost im- 

 mediately, dashed away on his brush, never let him gain a 

 field's advantage, and raced into him after about twenty-tAvo 

 minutes as fast as was ever ridden to. Not once, but three or 

 four times, they ran him into view, and seemed to be actually 

 coursing him — though the}' never got their heads up ; and yet 

 he struggled on, going as long as he could, and then turning 

 with the venom and hatred of death to make his teeth meet in 

 two at least of his enemies. 'Jlie tremendous ])ace of this last 



