94 



A COVERT SIDE. 



group, who were watching at the upper angle, in a 

 right line above him. 



Osbahliston's yell, " Gone-away 1 whoop — go-one- 

 a-wa-ay !" might have been heard a league, three 

 quick toots of the horn followed, and the gorse was 

 alive with the rush and rivalry of the fierce ladypack, 

 and rang merrily but wildly to their furious chiding. 



"Plenty of time, gentlemen," said the whip, raising 

 his hand with a gentle caution, as one or two of the 

 youngsters leaped the hedge impetuous. 



"Hold hard! hold hard! for Heaven's sake!" 

 shouted Musgrave. " You can't catch him with your 

 mouths. Hold hard !" 



"Heaven knows there's time enough for all!" cried 

 Goodricke. 



"And what's more, a fair field and no favor," said 

 Valentine Magher, as cool as a cucumber. 



As they stood on the crest of the ridge, the same 

 fence which the men had taken as they threw ofi", lay 

 before them, a deep ditch of perhaps twelve feet, with 

 high bank and a plashed hedge on the other side, and 

 a nasty drop over it ; then came a narrow strip of up- 

 land pasture with a second hedge, a tremendous ox- 

 fence of old thorn, with a double ditch and a rail on 

 each side of it; being a continuation of the lower 

 boundary of the gorse. In this, however, there was a 

 gate close to the angle of the gorse, which the whip- 

 per-in was holding open. Above the upper fence 

 about thirty horsemen were collected, Fairfax being 

 the farthest from the crest on the extreme right ; 

 Cecil Forrester and Aleck McDonald had jumped the 

 first fence, but ashamed of their impetuosity, stood 

 rebuked and motionless. 



Another crash, nearer and now close at hand, of 

 shrill dog-music, and then twelve abreast, the leading 

 hounds topped the edge of the gorse, the tail hounda 



