THE NEW YEAR IN. 125 



for eacli liad but one horse to depend upon — wliereas 

 Capt. Smith and Capt. King' were abnost the only men 

 carried by the same horse throughout. But now hounds 

 swung sharp to the right ; carried us over the Melton- 

 and-Scalford road ; and led us over the ford below 

 Melton Spinney (pace and ground still as good as ever). 

 Between the covert and brook they ran on without 

 giving us a moment's pull ; and beat everyone as they 

 turned over the hill for Thorpe Arnold. A still further 

 bend to the left made it seem as if cither their fox must 

 be beat or that they had changed on to one of less 

 boldness of purpose. Still they drove hard and sped on 

 — the wet ground ready to retain an}^ and every scent 

 to-day. The Thorpe Arnold brook was forded ; and 

 men hurried up the plough to the Melton-and-Waltham 

 road, straining hard to get on terms with hounds — now 

 almost undiscernible through a quarter-of-a-mile of thin 

 driving mist. Fox and hounds threaded the road for fully 

 a mile-and-a-half ; but some passer-by headed the former 

 from the Broom Covert, and turned him again over this 

 ridge of plough to the left of AValtham. Over hill and 

 dale (now again upon grass) men — and even the ladies 

 mentioned — struggled on with tired and feinting horses. 

 In this plight they had to jump the little brook by 

 Chaldwell village ; and shortly afterwards found them- 

 selves at Wykeham, close to where the last run had 

 ended. A sudden turn back brouo-ht them a^-ain to the 

 brook, over which they had just scrambled ; and those 

 who had strength enough left under them rejoined many 

 comrades who had failed to cross the stream at all. The 



