A Day with the Baron, 3 



tracks to cut him ofl', asked the man on the ^bus horse 

 what it meant. 



^' That he will shoot you with as little remorse as 

 he would a garden thrush/' was the reply, " if you 

 ride over his wheat/' 



"What is to be done?'' 



" Why, charge that stake and binder fence with the 

 brook flowing on the other side, and get out of his 

 way as soon as you can." 



Thereupon he hardened his heart and negotiated 

 the lot, and, looking back after the man on the coach 

 horse, was considerably astonished at finding him 

 landed safely by his side. 



In the Vale of Aylesbury no such contretemps are 

 to be feared. There the landlords and tenants are to 

 the manner born huntsmen, and look with consum- 

 mate indifierence on a few gaps in their fences or a 

 well-trampled piece of wheat, knowing full well that 

 it will be all right when harvest time comes. 



It is now 37 years since "the Barons" made their 

 debut in Buckinghamshire as masters of hounds, 

 starting with a few couples of Sir Charles Shakerley's 

 staghounds, and adding drafts from the kennels of the 

 Old Berkeley, Harvey Combe, and, above all, the 

 Fitzwilliam; and when it is remembered that these 

 hounds were, as a rule, drafted from their own packs 

 on account of their excessive speed, it is little wonder 

 that a pack of flyers was soon established, to be still 

 further improved year by year by the addition of fresh 

 blood of the best strains. 



Frederick Cox, who has hunted the Baron's hounds 

 for 22 seasons, takes for his motto " Excelsior," and 

 promises still further improvement, the necessity for 



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