64 Tallyho, 



" Well, I don't think lie^ll ever set the Thames on 

 fire/^ was my reply- 

 That man was Louis Napoleon, fresh from the for- 

 tress of Ham^ to whom I had just been introduced, 

 and with whom^ in those days, I would not have ex- 

 changed position or prospects ; but when seated in the 

 Palace of the Tuileries awaiting an audience of Napo- 

 leon III., then at the zenith of his power, I was con- 

 strained to admit that circumstances had altered, and 

 that he had considerably the best of me. 



On the Saturday of my visit the meet was Foss 

 Lodge, and at 10.30 I mounted my horse, and, hav- 

 ing seven miles to get over before eleven o^ clock, at 

 which hour the meet was fixed, I had to pound away 

 at a swinging trot, passing through Yatton Keynell, 

 by Grittleton House, the beautiful seat of Sir John 

 Neeld, in order to be in time ; and although the roads 

 for nearly the whole distance were newly metalled, I 

 arrived before Lord Worcester — who hunts the hounds 

 himself — had put in an appearance. The first person 

 I see is the Duke of Beaufort, looking remarkably 

 fresh and well, mounted on his favourite grey, the pick 

 of the Badminton stable. 



'^It is some years since we met in the hunting- 

 field,^'' says his Grace, in the pleasant and cheery way 

 which renders him so popular throughout Wiltshire, 

 and everywhere else for the matter of that. 



Then I pass on to take a survey of the '^ field."'' 

 First to attract my attention is a beautiful girl, with a 

 laughter-loving face, well-mounted, neatly appointed ; 

 and I recognise the form of one I had seen a few days 

 since going like a bird across Rutlandshire. Next I 

 see a young lady wearing the Duke's uniform — a blue 



