56 mr. sponge's sporting tour. 



of the head to Tom Towler, who forthwith whistled his hounds 

 .together, and, attended by the whips, bustled from the scene. 



Epping Hunt, in its most palmy days, could not equal the exhibi- 

 tion that now took place. Some of the more lively of the horses, 

 tired of waiting, perhaps pinched by the cold, for most of them were 

 newly clipped, evinced their approbation of the move, by sundry 

 squeals and capers, which being caught by others in the neighborhood, 

 the infection quickly spread, and in less than a minute there was such 

 a scene of rocking, and rearing, and kicking, and prancing, and neigh- 

 ing, and shooting over heads, and rolling over tails, and hanging on 

 by manes, mingled with such screamings from the ladies in the tiys, 

 and such hearty-sounding kicks against splash boards and fly bottoms, 

 from sundry of the vicious ones in harness, as never was witnessed. 

 One gentleman, in a bran new scarlet, mounted on a flourishing pie- 

 bald, late the property of Mr. Batty, stood pawing and fighting the 

 air, as if in the saw-dust circle, his unfortunate rider clinging round 

 his neck, expecting to have the beast back over upon him. Another 

 little wiry chesnut, with abundance of rings, racing martingale, and 

 tackle generally, just turned tail on the crowd, and ran off home as 

 hard as ever he could lay legs to the ground ; while a good steady 

 bay cob, with a barrel like a butt, and a tail like a hearth-brush, 

 having selected the muddiest, dirtiest place he could find, deliberately 

 proceeded to lie down, to the horror of his rider, Captain Greatgun, 

 of the royal navy, who, feeling himself suddenly touch mother earth, 

 thought he was going to be swallowed up alive, and was only awoke 

 from the delusion by the shouts of the foot people, telling him to get 

 clear of his horse before he began to roll. 



Hercules would fain have joined the truant set, and, at the first 

 commotion, up went his great back, and down went his ears, with a 

 single lash out behind that meant mischief, but Mr. Sponge was on 

 the alert, and just gave him such a dig with his spurs as restored 

 order, without exposing anything that anybody could take notice of. 



The sudden storm was quickly lulled. The spilt ones scrambled 

 up; the loose riders got tighter hold of their horses; the screaming 

 fair ones sunk languidly in their carriages; and the late troubled 

 ocean of equestrians fell into irregular line en route for the cover. 



Bump, bump, bump ; trot, trot, trot ; jolt, jolt, jolt ; shake, shake, 

 shake ; and carriages and cavalry got to Ribston Wood somehow or 

 other. It is a long cover on a hill-side, from which parties, placing 

 themselves in the green valley below, can see hounds " draw," that is 

 to say, run through with their noses to the ground, if there are any 

 men foolish enough to believe that ladies care for seeing such things. 

 However, there they were. 



" Eu leu, in /" cries old Tom, with a wave of his arm, finding he 

 can no longer restrain the ardor of the pack as they approach, and 

 thinking to save his credit by appearing to direct. " Eu leu, in I " 



