EACING AND 'CHASING 



A QUESTION OF BITS 



CHAPTER I 



The Glebeshire Hunt does certainly for the most part 

 fancy itself, as the phrase goes. If you talked of pro- 

 vincial packs to a member of the hunt, it would never for 

 a moment occur to him that you could by any possibility 

 mean to include the Glebeshire, while a secret sentiment 

 prevails in the bosom of many followers of these hounds 

 that High Leicestershire is absurdly over-praised, and 

 that what is called the cream of that famous country is 

 very often only skim milk. There is cream to be found 

 elsewhere, the Glebeshire men think, and there are 

 those elsewhere who can appreciate cream. This pride 

 is sufficiently praiseworthy if it be not excessive. It is 

 well for a man to have a good opinion of his surround- 

 ings, and if Glebeshire is not all that fond admirers 

 maintain, it is only fair to admit that a good pack, 

 handled in a sportsmanlike way, run well after straight- 

 necked foxes in a diversified district, and that a very 

 fair proportion of the followers ride well to hounds. 



Some men are always dissatisfied under every variety 

 of circumstances, and Henry Lawford, who formed a 



B 



