1880—81.] GRTM DEATH. 347 



that wa}' — is to see the glad delight of a pack let out to 

 amuse itself after a Aveek or two of kennel confinement or 

 slow objectless exercise. Every hound is lit to jump out of 

 his skin with effusive pleasure ; revels in the keen atmo- 

 sphere, bounds joyously over the snow drifts, and busies him- 

 self in covert — as if in search of a long-lost friend. 



Onni DEATH. 



Foxhunting came into full swing again on Thursday, Feb. 3, 

 on which date the Quorn had a byeday, and a somewhat event- 

 ful gallop from Grimston Gorse. It was not quite what the 

 first sound of " forty-five minutes, and a kill in the open," 

 would lead one to infer, inasnuich as it was made up of two 

 pieces, each with a separate finish of entireh' distinct character. 

 They started in an instant from the Gorse, and at the end of a 

 five-and-twenty minutes' hunt the Master and whips and most 

 of the field were hovering round Old Dalby Wood in distracted 

 search of Firr and the hounds. Of a sudden their anxious 

 eyes were gladdened by the sight of the familiar coat and cap, 

 perched on a roof in the valley below ! Had he gone there to 

 mock them, or, like Actieon, to escape from his own hounds ? 

 Not a bit of it. There he was, master of a triumi)liant situa- 

 tion — his conquered foe at his mercy. Face to face they stood, 

 each baring his teeth to the very widest, Tom Firr with amused 

 delight, bold Reynard Avith savage despair. At the mouth of a 

 hothouse flue a coal-black mask was visible, the shining ivories 

 and sparkling eyeballs making a picture that will certainly form 

 material for Firr's next nightmare. Nothing in the fanciful 

 figurehead of Tom Moody's ghost could hold a candle to it for 

 expressive savagery. But charming as was the scene, and 

 striking as was the comparison of facial efi'ect, it was not 

 deemed necessary unduly to prolong the tctc-a-tctc ; so a jJole 

 and a sack were obtained, and pressure having l)een brought to 

 bear upon the occupant of the flue, he was induced to change 



