6 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



their wrath fell on the Secretary, a mild person, very much 

 in awe of Nunn, who could throw no light on the enigma. 

 Many indignation meetings were held, and feeling ran 

 so high that the Mastership of the Haycester Hounds 

 would certainly have become vacant at the end of the 

 season, even had the event not been precipitated as 

 it was. 



" Under the circumstances a very small field turned 

 out at Yewbarrow Mill on the Friday. There were not 

 half a dozen of us, besides the remarkable cavalcade that 

 arrived with hounds. Nunn had with him not only the 

 whippers-in and second horseman, but every man and boy 

 in any way connected with the kennels ; all his own and 

 the hunt servants' horses were out, ridden by stablemen, 

 feeders, and what not ; and he had brought every hound 

 that had a leg to stand on : dogs and bitches, forty-seven 

 couple in all. 



" Nunn himself looked as if he had been out of bed for 

 a week; and we heard afterwards that, having spent all 

 the preceding days in destroying every earth and stopping 

 every place where the fox could get in between Canonby 

 Whin and Ridgeweather Hill, he had been out with 

 the earthstopper the night before the meet, had gone 

 carefully over all his work again to make sure that 

 it was intact, and had then returned to Canonby 

 Whin, watched the grey fox out, and made all safe 

 behind him. 



" He never even stopped his horse at the meet, ignored 

 our salutations, and went straight on to cover. 



" When we got to the Whin he turned round and 

 addressed us; and then we understood the meaning of 

 the strange telegram and of his miscellaneous following. 



