MY FIRST DAY'S FOX-HUNTING 133 



asked me tauntingly whether I had " done leaping 

 for to-day ? " 



" Not exactly," I replied ; " I intend " 



" Will you take a lead from me ? " she interrupted. 



" I'll take any lead that you dare give me," I 

 replied haughtily. 



" Done ! " 



And she had no sooner said the word than the 

 fox broke from the cover, about two hundred yards 

 in front of us, followed in a few moments by the 

 hounds, so close together that (as I afterwards heard 

 one gentleman remark to another) you might have 

 covered them with a blanket. Away they went, 

 and away went we after them. My enthusiasm 

 was raised to the utmost pitch, and I was deter- 

 mined to stop at nothing. Emily and Julia kept 

 on my left, a few yards in advance, whilst Miss 

 Trafford, on my right, kept about the same distance 

 in my rear. The fox, luckily, had taken the open, 

 and the ladies prophesied a half-hour's run with no 

 checks. But before ten minutes of it were over, I 

 perceived, about a hundred yards in front of us, a 

 thick, well-laid quickset hedge, about four feet high, 

 and as we neared it I thought I saw water glistening 

 on the other side. There was no escape ; my time 

 had come ; I was led in front, and driven in rear ; 

 and leap I must. 



