310 THE QUORN HUNT 



fashion, and so when he found that his health and his 

 purse were alike unequal to the demands made upon 

 them respectively, he had no alternative but to announce 

 his determination to resign, intelligence, it is needless 

 to say, which was received with extreme regret, and 

 the country at once hoped that he would reconsider 

 his decision and accept a subscription. This, however, 

 he did not see his way to do, at least not to the full 

 extent to which his followers wished, but he made a 

 proposal to which reference will be made in the next 

 chapter. 



During the season 1869-70 the Ouorn hunted 105 

 days, and managed to kill 43 brace of foxes and run 18A 

 brace to ground, the kennels' strength being 37 i couples 

 of working hounds. The sport on the opening day was 

 not of much account, and it was not until the end of 

 November that a really good day fell to their lot. On 

 the 22nd of that month hounds had a good run in the 

 morning from Ashby Pasture, and a second fox from 

 Thorpe Trussels, after running a ring nearly to Gaddesby, 

 turned to the left and ran in a straight line until hounds 

 were whipped off in the dark. They had previously 

 enjoyed a very good day in Donington Park, finding 

 in the home coverts, and killing their fox, after a very 

 fast thirty-five minutes, in the open near Kegworth, 

 while other good runs came with tolerable frequency 

 afterwards. 



Mr. Musters was a most popular master. A staunch 

 follower of the Ouorn has left it on record that his 

 covert-side greeting was quite sufficient to put a man 

 in good humour for the rest of the day, even if no sport 

 resulted. Springing, as he did, from a family of sports- 

 men, it is but natural that he should have imbibed the 

 best traditions, and approached as nearly as any human 

 being' could to an ideal master of foxhounds. Nor must 

 it be left unsaid that Mrs. Musters in no small degree 



