388 THE CREAM OF LEICESTERSHIRE. [Season 



a broader scale than the new six-mile-to-an-inch survey. In a 

 moment he is in gii'th deep (R.E. on-the-sui'vej^, please note 

 depth — ** river passable for cavahy"). Next five minutes are 

 simply — the pack screaming forward, and Firr doing gimlet 

 with his cap and ears, through three consecutive bullfinches. 

 Cursed be he that invented tall hats. "Will no nobleman of 

 ancient title and democratic principles (this latter is an essential 

 if a new fashion is to be set and to prevail) come out in a cap ? 

 We will all, I can answer for it, bang om* swallow-tails in 

 sjanphony and gratitude at once. Or, failing titled aristocracy, 

 will not some one of lesser degree dare retrogression (though, 

 may be, provincial) and inaugurate a fellowship of caps and 

 comfort ? Hats are said to break a fall. But did a cap ever 

 break a neck ? And why should one be called upon to come 

 thi'ough a fence in three pieces — hat, hatstring, and following 

 — requiring a whole field's length to put the three components 

 again in unison, and another to steady horse and regain sight 

 of hounds ? Answer me this, please, omniscient editor — and 

 let me get on with the Quorn fox swinging round and back, 

 from Twyford — along that loveable hillside to Barsby. There 

 *they make their fences on purpose for blown himters, and 

 drain their fields Avitli the same laudable object. I wish they 

 would latch then' gates nicel}', too ; and my friend wishes he 

 had not jumped off" into the mud to lift one off" its hinges, while 

 the grateful ones let his borrowed horse get caught in between 

 gate and gatepost. Barsby Crossroads, and thirty-five minutes 

 by general agi'eement, is the next entry — with a mental note 

 that crossroads with a field of horsemen are a thumbscrew to a 

 huntsman. But it was a very pretty mile of road work, and a 

 charming unravelment, that set horn going again a little way 

 short of Queniboro' Spinne3\ Soon the field had a six-foot brook 

 — and a chance no fellow could miss. So fifty men 'twixt fox 

 and hounds, and a consequent ten minutes' hindrance. But I 

 need not postpone the end of a satisfactory -story. Eyelids 

 grow heavy, too, and under duty's stern orders I must be in the 

 saddle in time for another of these daily hardships. Firr 



