398 THE CREAM OF LEICESTERSHIRE. [Season 



sitating a temporary cessation on the part of the diggers. 

 Eejaiarcl evidently thought the game was now bemg played on 

 prmciples of which he could not approve ; so, taking advantage 

 of the lull, he did his best to slip away from the scene. But 

 the fifty and odd minutes' strain had nearly run his watch 

 down ; and, after he had doubled the hedgerows for some few 

 minutes more, he gave up his gallant black brush. Such is 

 the brief outline of the Tilton Day of 1881. 



TRIFLES. 



Monday, December 19th. 

 The Quorn at RatclifFe-on-the-Wreake, a wild, wet, and 

 wmdy day. It requu-es all the power of a hot bath and a 

 strong cup of tea to fit one for the thirty minutes' penwork 

 that dinner allows. The poet may write by the midnight oil : 

 the foxhmiter's prosy and practical tale must be scribbled 

 before his meal ; for a th'ed frame, weary eyelids, and satisfied 

 hunger revolt against pen and paper. "We can give with ready 

 tongue, and tell in eager cat's chorus — few listening, all talking 

 — while the social meal proceeds, our respective experiences of 

 the day j^ast. But paper is unappreciative material, and the 

 pen is a cold-blooded pal ; Nature is weak, and anything 

 except water is strong — or at least aids the crimping, woolly 

 efiect of half a gale from the south-west. You ought to come 

 home in the middle of the day, to write of liuntmg — and miss 

 the good thing of the afternoon. Or, as alternative, you should 

 hunt only five days — and so be at home while the best run of 

 the week is going on. By the way, what a correspondent 

 might be made of a shorthand writer under cover at Melton 

 dinners ! His anecdotes slioidd perhaps be " assorted ; " and 

 might perchance be as varied as authentic ; but at least he would 

 get the pith and point, if he did not attain to the exact outline, 

 of every run. 



