'' IT IS OUR OPENING DAY." 47 



formance of the drama. There have been found 

 even semi-enthusiasts ready to vote cub-hunting 

 dull ; and for the average sportsman it is easy 

 to understand why such an opinion should be 

 held. 



Hunting is, in fact, an elastic term, and with 

 many is taken to include the pleasures of a 

 cheery breakfast ; the meeting with friends ; a 

 good deal of that " coffee housing " which is the 

 abomination of men intent upon the business of 

 the day ; the provocation of an appetite for 

 dinner; a subject of conversation, and other 

 advantages, besides the mere chase of the fox. 

 For those again who regard fox-hunting simply 

 as for an excuse for a gallop across the country, 

 the pursuit of the cubs has few charms, notwith- 

 standing that at times a straight-going cub gives 

 a good hunting nin. A man who goes after cubs 

 knows that he is not likely to meet many of the 

 friends who make the field lively in the regular 

 season, and the rider who is bent on steeple- 

 chasing is aware that there are reasons why his 

 taste cannot be gratified. The ground is usually 

 hard. The fences which, in a few weeks' time, 

 can be crashed and brushed through so easily by 

 a resolute man mounted on a good horse, are 

 now blind, dense, and often impenetrable ; for 

 the leaves have not all fallen and the sticks are 



