THE SHIRES 



staked - and - bound hedge, coarse, rough, and 

 strong, with a drop and what you please, on the 

 other side. This last treat proves to be a bowed- 

 out oak - rail, standing four feet from the fence. 

 The King, full of courage and going fast, bounds 

 over the whole with his hind lees tucked under 

 him like a deer, ready, but not requiring, to strike 

 back, while two of Rapid's young friends with 

 whom he dined yesterday, and one he will meet 

 at dinner to-day, fly it in similar form, nearly 

 alongside. An ugly, overgrown bullfinch, with 

 a miniature ravine, or, as it is here called, a 

 bottom, appears at the foot of the hill they are 

 now descending, and, as there seems only one 

 practicable place, these four reckless individuals 

 at once begin to race for the desirable spot. The 

 King's turn of speed serves him again ; covering 

 five or six-and-twenty feet, he leaps it a length 

 in front of the nearest horse, and a couple of 

 strides before the other two, while loud reproach- 

 ful outcries resound in the rear because of 

 Harmony's narrow escape — the King's fore foot 

 missing that priceless bitch by a yard ! 



Our young gentleman, having got a lead now, 

 begins to ride with more judgment. He trots up 

 to a stile and pops over it in truly artistic form ; 

 better still, he gives the hounds plenty of room on 

 the fallow beyond, where they have hovered for 

 a moment and put down their noses, holding his 



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