56 



HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



was full of ride, and hard to beat over a country. 

 When hacking home at night with hounds, which 

 was often his wont, he would say, "Well, Frank, 

 who has had the most falls to-day, you or I ? " 



A hard day's sport with a fox round Melton 

 put a finish to the season, and only wanted blood 

 to make it excellent. The weather was very hot, 

 and at six o'clock the pack came to a full stop by 

 Welby Holt, with only Mr. A. V. Pryor and the 

 Hon. H. H, Molyneux left out to help Gillard 

 with the pack into Melton, for both the whippers- 

 in were left behind looking up missing hounds. 

 On this day Frank Beers, the huntsman from the 

 Grafton, was out on a hack to watch hounds in their 

 work, and buy some of the draft. The Grafton 

 kennel dipped very freely into the Belvoir blood, 

 paying as much as £80 for a single hound. About 

 this time the crack of that kennel was Silence — 

 the name was enough to hang him — by Statesman 

 out of Garland, and he proved one of the finest 

 sires the Grafton ever produced, and had a 

 numerous family, over one hundred couple. 



Taking all things into consideration it was a 

 good season of 136 days, with only 11 days" stop 

 for frost. The number of kills was 98, and 57 

 were marked to ground. 



Vengeance, by Gameboy — Vanity. 



