72 THE QUORN HUNT 



— he determined on the bold experiment of having two 

 packs and two huntsmen. With two Kings of Brent- 

 ford in the field, many disagreements, the outcome of 

 jealousy, might have been anticipated ; but it speaks 

 well for master and men that nothing of the kind oc- 

 curred, and everything went on as smoothly as possible. 

 The arrangement was that Raven should be head-man, 

 the chief in kennel, and should hunt the old pack on two 

 days in the week in the best part of the Quorn country, 

 the younger hounds hunting, under Goodall, the wood- 

 lands on the other two days. One cannot help praising 

 Goodall for his willingness to play second fiddle, but the 

 arrangement was the only possible way out of a difficulty. 

 The two huntsmen were about as much unlike as two 

 men could be. " Nature had interdicted superior horse- 

 manship to Goodall," wrote " Nimrod," " for although 

 she had given him his full share of brains, she formed 

 him with a great carcase upon short legs (very good 

 qualities in a horse) and an aptitude to feed (still better 

 in a hog) that would not be satisfied until the maximum 

 exceeded twenty stone." With a frame which must have 

 much resembled, if it did not exceed, that of Charles 

 (Bob) Ward of the Hertfordshire, Stephen Goodall was 

 not built to shine over the more stiffly fenced portions of 

 Leicestershire, even as the country then was ; but like 

 many another heavy man (when his nerves are in the 

 right place) Goodall would, to use a phrase of Whyte- 

 Melville's, " smuggle " himself and his horse over a 

 country in surprising fashion. 



Jack Raven, on the other hand, was moulded more 

 on the lines of James Pigg (though no one would think 

 so after looking at the picture of him in which he and 

 the hound Glider are represented in Mr. Meynell's 

 plainly furnished sitting-room) : he was tall and wiry 

 and had a fine melodious voice, whereas Stephen Good- 

 all is reported to have been very weak in the throat. 



