122 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



opportunity to carry the horn. When we come 

 to think of the number of wet jackets he must 

 have carried during his long career we are inclined 

 to marvel that he never took permanent harm, for 

 many a day it was eight or nine o'clock before he 

 was able to effect a change. A good heart and a 

 temperate life were the real secret of the preserva- 

 tion of health and usefulness. We are reminded 

 of a wrinkle given by the post-boys for travelling in 

 bad weathers which may be of service to the hunt- 

 ing man of to-day. A long great-coat was part 

 and parcel of the post-boy's equipment, and when, 

 brinffing his '* bounder " back, he would often sit on 

 the apology for a seat to drive the horses. If he 

 had got wet when riding the stage, on the return 

 journey he put his dry coat over the wet jacket, 

 and never feared taking cold when so doing, saying 

 it converted cold water into hot. 



The opening day of this season was November 

 4th, the meet being Three Queens, hounds setting a 

 good fox going from Tipping's Gorse. Although the 

 pack did not get away on the best of terms, they 

 eventually settled to the line, and the farther they 

 ran the more pace improved. The line was by 

 Sproxton Thorns, Coston village and Coston Covert 

 to Wymondham, where the fox was viewed just 

 ahead, but a couple of sheep-dogs joining in the 

 chase, spoilt the run. The pack whipped off at 

 Woodwell Head after running well for four hours. 

 Considerable friction was caused by the Quorn and 

 the Belvoir meeting during a run in one of the 

 coverts of the former pack on November 25th. 



