276 The Pytchley Httnt^ Past and Present. 



At the present time the occupant of the stall where 

 once stood the unappreciated ^^Lepper^^ of Colonel 

 Rokeby, has no reason to complain of not having his or 

 her jumping proclivities put to their full test. If the 

 good-looking black mare, whose pleasant duty it is to 

 carry the ^^ Squarson's " daughter as near the hounds as 

 may be, fails in doing so^ the fault will not lie with his fair 

 burden; and the rail must be strong* and high, and the 

 bullfinch thick and thorny, that leaves her parent hesi- 

 tating on the " take-off side." 



A clear head for figures and an assiduous attention to 

 his magisterial work have imposed upon Mr. Rokeby the 

 difficult task of overlooking the county-accounts, and 

 vouching for the accuracy of each county-rate — a duty 

 that can only be satisfactorily performed by a thorough 

 man of business. 



A perfect acquaintance with the ways and feelings of 

 his parishioners leads him to humour instead of running 

 counter to their prejudices ; nor by any unnecessary dis- 

 play of zeal will he subject himself to the reproach in- 

 curred by a brother-cleric, who had good reason to feel 

 the impossibility of pleasing everybody. Solicited by one 

 of the tenant-farmers of his parish to '' pray for rain " 

 during a period of drought, such a superabundance of the 

 desired element followed that the occupant of the light- 

 land farm at whose instance the petition was offered up, 

 began to be looked upon as a public nuisance by the 

 cultivators of the cold clays. Upon being remonstrated 

 ■with as the author of all the mischief then going on, he 

 remarked, " Well, I didn^t w^ant so much, but it's just 

 like our parson, he always overdoes everything so." 

 Kor is the Hector of Arthingworth himself, not unac- 



