Chapter II 



The Rev. George Hustler — A Horse and Hound Lover — His People do not Approve 

 — His School and College Days — Explains hovv^ he Passed his Exams. — His 

 Marriage — His First Livings — Strange Occurrence in his Church — A Re- 

 fractory Pulpit Door — Tlie Vicar has a Fall — The Sexton on All Fours — Mr. 

 Hustler a Favourite — His Gallant Conduct — He Comes into Family Property 

 — A Picturesque Host — Enjoys Dancing — Acklam Hall — The Drives — 

 Hustlers in James I.'s Time — Knighted for Killing a Pirate — An Historic 

 Ballad — Brothers whose Tastes Differ — Mr. Hustler's Market Cart — A Drive 

 with some Loquacious Ducks — His Hunting-Flask Mixture — Some Old 

 Friends — He Hunts in Yorkshire, Durham, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire — His 

 Death in the Hunting Field — His Unostentatious Charity — Loves liis Old 

 Clothes. 



FROM India to Yorkshire is a far cry, but it is worth the 

 journey, for Yorkshire is a grand county full of sports- 

 men, amongst whom may be numbered a fair sprinkling 

 of sporting parsons, whose merits are worth recording. The 

 Rev. George Hustler was a fine specimen. He was a lover of 

 horses and hounds, and a good judge of both, though how he 

 acquired the taste or the knowledge of their points, maladies, 

 and all things appertaining to them, is a mystery, for none of 

 his people were the least " horsey," not one of them knew 

 anything about horses, and in fact thought there was something 

 rather fast and vicious in love for them, and the Hustler family 

 was pained at the youngest member's affection for them. The 

 other members of the family hired their horses by the year 

 from a big London firm of jobmasters, being willing to pay 

 long sums to be saved all worry in connection with them. If 

 one went wrong it was immediately replaced, and they had no 

 trouble. Horses were to them simply machines, useful as a 

 means of moving about, but not as companions or favourites, 

 the only stipulation made with the dealer being that the horses 

 must always be grey and well-matched ; no other colour was 

 allowed in the stables. 



I once asked Mr. Hustler how he thought he acquired his 

 love for and knowledge of horses and hunting. He said he 

 thought it was born in him, for he certainly received neither 



