CHAP. I.] Col. Allix — Mr. Lucas — Col. Bouverie. 23 



he was out, no man was more sure to Lave seen it. In 

 after years, a guest at Moulton Grange for a few weeks' 

 hunting in the old country, he was to be seen on a 

 thorough-bred chestnut horse by '^ Economist ^' called 

 ^^ Rhino '^ — the vf'riest slug that ever went into a 

 hunting-field. With the aid of a stout cutting whip and 

 a sharp pair of spurs, the still-handsome old Guardsman 

 was not to be denied ; and many a younger man was 

 not too proud to wait until the Colonel had made a hole 

 in the big place through which he might find a way into 

 the field beyond. All too soon he received his summons 

 to " join the majority \^ but his connection with the 

 Pytchley is still kept up by his son having married a 

 daughter of Mr. Richard Lee Bevan of Brixworth Hall. 

 Mr. Lucas, at that time one of the wearers of the White 

 Collar, had good reason to remember a dark evening on 

 a cold December day, when on his return to Pytchley 

 after a distant kill, the darkness became so intense that 

 he lost his way in attempting to find a gate out of a 

 grass-field. Happily he stumbled on a barn, where he 

 and his horse passed the weary hours of a winter's night 

 as best they could, causing no little anxiety to the more 

 fortunate members of the Club, seated safe and sound 

 around the dinner-table. For many years the place of 

 shelter was known as Lucas's barn. 



The Squire of Delapre, though never an enthusiastic 

 sportsman or much of a performer in the field, was a 

 frequent attendant at the Meets, where few excelled him 

 in the neat and dapper appearance of himself, horse or 

 groom. His son. Colonel Bouverie, for many years in 

 command of the Blues, like his father, was never remark- 

 able for his achievements across country, but on the flat 



