STURDY CARRIES THE DAY 165 



inquired a little, thin man, in great perturbation of 

 mind at the prospect of starving a night and a day. 



" Noa, I tell ye, neighbour Sharp, until I be as weasel- 

 carcassed as thee beest ; and as good luck would ha' 

 it, I gat landlord's nightcap in my pocket when I left 

 yesternoon," which he pulled deliberately out, and 

 prepared ready for use. 



At sight of this Sharp grew pale, and whispering his 

 brother jurymen. Sturdy was allowed per force to carry 

 the day, one hundred pounds damages, with all costs, 

 being awarded to Squire Trueman ; and altogether, 

 through this dog battue, the great Mr. Bragg was relieved 

 of the current coin of the realm to the amount of five 

 hundred pounds, which, as the Squire afterwards jocosely 

 remarked, " was the highest price ever paid for a pack of 

 harriers, with three couple returned." 



Soon after this event, Trueman's eldest brother dying 

 without issue, a large though not very rich tract of land 

 in Yorkshire, consisting chiefly of mountain and moor, 

 fell into his possession, with an old family mansion, 

 rather the worse for having stood above two centuries 

 without much money being lavished on repairs, and 

 thither, glad to escape from the vicinity of such a dis- 

 agreeable neighbour as Mr. Bragg, Trueman transferred 

 his establishment, with the three couple of old harriers, 

 from which have sprung the cleverest pack in that 

 county, and, for anything I have heard to the contrary, 

 are still hunted by the old Squire. 



Failing an offer of such animals by public auction or 

 private sale at the close of the season, it is, as I have 

 before observed, a very hazardous undertaking to pur- 

 chase drafts, which are seldom worth more than the 

 coats on their backs : and as of two evils we should 



