Melton Mowbray, 203 



the horse, for want of a little more shaking up, stops 

 short or jumps into the middle. 



By this time the weather had changed, threatening 

 to be wet, and the scent was cold and bad. Gillard 

 persevering, we went away as if for Belvoir; but 

 again we turned to the right, and made for Croxton 

 Park, and finally left our fox in the Spinnies. 



The rain had begun to fall, and the afternoon was 

 bitterly cold. However, we trotted away to Stonesby 

 Gorse, and in a few minutes we hear a hound speak. 

 " Have at him, there ! ^^ cries the huntsman, and I 

 view a fox stealing away, pointing for a good line of 

 country; but the scent is bad, and the fox having 

 doubled back, we hunt him up to the rectory at 

 Waltham, and then through the village. 



Here, I and many others left them, and returned to 

 Melton through a pitiless rain that drenched me 

 thoroughly before I arrived at the end of my jour- 

 ney. 



On the following morning the Cottesmore met at 

 Teigh village, their best meet in this crack part of 

 Leicestershire. All the Melton division were present, 

 but the day was very stormy and disagreeable, and 

 there was no sport worth recording. 



On Friday the Quorn fixture was Ashby Folleville, 

 a meet that was famous in the days when ^' Nimrod " 

 described a run with these hounds, and which keeps 

 up its reputation to this date. As I rode to cover I 

 could see a stretch of open country not to be sur- 

 passed by any other I have seen. 



But here the navvies at present interfere with the 

 quiet of the foxes, as a useless line of railway is being 



