96 The Old Surrey Fox Hounds 



Bridge. The time was two hours and a quarter, and 

 there was a nice lot of jumping. I gave the brush to a 

 lady, not because she was beautiful — which she was — but 

 because she rode so beautifully. Some of the gentlemen's 

 horses were so done up that it was wondered how they — 

 or the gentlemen — would ever get home that night." 



A noteworthy incident connected with a remarkably 

 good fox was next described by Sam with gusto. "That 

 fox," he affirmed, "used to lay about the Sanderstead and 

 Addington district. He had given us two splendid runs, 

 and had managed to save his brush each time. He had 

 run always to Chislehurst, where we had lost him. On 

 the third occasion, however, after finding him in Bishop's 

 Park, Addington, we ran him through Spring Park to 

 Hayes and Bromley Common, thence over Chislehurst 

 Common — he made the same point as before — to Lord 

 Sidney's place, when we discovered how he had succeeded 

 in evading us previously. He ran into the root of an old 

 tree and upwards on to one of the boughs. We got him 

 down this time and killed him. He was a rare good fox, 

 and, as will be inferred, extremely cunning. The dis- 

 tance of that gallop was about fourteen miles as hounds 



ran." 



With reference to the many poetical effusions which 

 Sam Hills' deeds in the hunting field have inspired, he 

 spoke with his usual modesty, but some verses which 

 appeared in "Bell's Life" of 9 January, 1864, seem to 

 meet with his approval. We think it desirable to repro- 

 duce them as follows : — 



