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diff --git a/40302-0.txt b/40302-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3613b27 --- /dev/null +++ b/40302-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7796 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40302 *** + +BOOKS FOR SPORTSMEN + +PUBLISHED BY + +BELLAIRS & CO., + +9 HART STREET, BLOOMSBURY. + + +IN SCARLET AND SILK. Recollections of Hunting and Steeplechase riding. +By FOX RUSSELL. With two drawings in colour by FINCH MASON. 5s. net. + +NEW SPORTING STORIES. By G. G. 3s. 6d. net. + + _The Times_ says:--"New Sporting Stories are written by a man who + evidently knows what he is writing about.... The sketches are + short, racy and to the point." + +TRAVEL AND BIG GAME. By PERCY SELOUS and H. A. BRYDEN. With +Illustrations by CHARLES WHYMPER. 10s. 6d. net. + +THE CHASE: a Poem. By WILLIAM SOMERVILLE. Illustrated by HUGH THOMSON. +5s. net. + + In this fine old poem now ably illustrated by Mr Hugh Thomson are + the original lines, quoted by the immortal Jorrocks-- + + "My hoarse-sounding horn + Invites thee to the chace, the sport of kings, + Image of war, without its guilt." + +GREAT SCOT THE CHASER, and other Sporting Stories. By G. G. With +Portrait of the Author. 4s. 6d. net. + + _The Daily Telegraph_ says:--"G. G. is a benefactor to his + species." + +CURIOSITIES OF BIRD LIFE. By CHARLES DIXON, Author of "The Migration of +Birds." [_In the Press._ + +ANIMAL EPISODES AND STUDIES IN SENSATION. By GEORGE H. POWELL. 3s. 6d. +net. + +TALES OF THE CINDER PATH. By an Amateur Athlete [W. LINDSEY]. 2s. 6d. +net. + +REMINISCENCES OF A YORKSHIRE NATURALIST. By the late W. CRAWFORD +WILLIAMSON, LL.D., F.R.S. Edited by his wife. 5s. net. + + + + +ENTERTAINING BOOKS + +PUBLISHED BY + +BELLAIRS & CO., + +9 HART STREET, BLOOMSBURY. + + +A MAN AND A WOMAN. Faithfully presented by STANLEY WATERLOO. 3s. 6d. +net. + +BEYOND ATONEMENT. A Story of London Life. By A. ST JOHN ADCOCK. 4s. 6d. +net. + +A HUSBAND'S ORDEAL; or, the Confessions of Gerald Brownson, late of +Coora Coora, Queensland. By PERCY RUSSELL. 3s. 6d. net. + +A BRIDE'S EXPERIMENT. A Story of Australian Bush Life. By CHARLES J. +MANSFORD. 3s. 6d. net. + +EIGHTY YEARS AGO; or, the Recollections of an Old Army Doctor, his +adventures on the fields of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and during the +occupation of Paris, 1815. By the late Dr GIBNEY of Cheltenham. Edited +by his son, MAJOR GIBNEY. 5s. net. + +THE SOLDIER IN BATTLE; or, Life in the Ranks of the Army of the +Potomac. By FRANK WILKESON, a Survivor of Grant's last campaign. 2s. +6d. net. + +NEPHELÈ. The Story of a Sonata for violin and piano. By F. W. +BOURDILLON. 2s. 6d. net. + +A DARN ON A BLUE STOCKING. A Story of To-day. By G. G. CHATTERTON. 2s. +6d. net. + +THE MYSTERY OF THE CORDILLERA. A Tale of Adventure in the Andes. By A. +MASON BOURNE. Illustrated. 3s. 6d. net. + +THE LURE OF FAME. By CLIVE HOLLAND, Author of "My Japanese Wife." 3s. +6d. net. + +THE OLD ECSTASIES. A Modern Romance. By GASPARD TOURNIER. 4s. 6d. net. + +THE TANTALUS TOUR. A Theatrical Venture. By WALTER PARKE, joint-author +of "Les Manteaux Noirs," and other comic operas. Illustrated. 2s. 6d. +net. + + + + +SPORTING SOCIETY + + +[Illustration: IN FULL CRY. By R. CALDECOTT.] + + + + +SPORTING SOCIETY + +OR + +_SPORTING CHAT AND SPORTING MEMORIES_ + + +STORIES HUMOROUS AND CURIOUS; WRINKLES OF THE FIELD +AND THE RACE-COURSE; ANECDOTES OF THE STABLE AND +THE KENNEL; WITH NUMEROUS PRACTICAL +NOTES ON SHOOTING AND FISHING + +FROM THE PEN OF + +VARIOUS SPORTING CELEBRITIES AND +WELL-KNOWN WRITERS ON THE TURF AND THE CHASE + +EDITED BY +FOX RUSSELL + +Illustrations by Randolph Caldecott. + +_IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL. II._ + +LONDON +BELLAIRS & CO. +1897 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +SPORTING OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT DAY 1 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +DOWN THE BECK 23 + By G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES + +AN APOLOGY FOR FISHING 45 + +DOGS I HAVE KNOWN 58 + By Captain R. BIRD THOMPSON + +NOVEMBER SHOOTING 85 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +SPORTING ADVENTURES OF CHARLES CARRINGTON, ESQ. 94 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +MY FIRST DAY'S FOX-HUNTING 121 + By the Owner of "Iron Duke" + +MY FIRST AND LAST STEEPLE-CHASE 139 + A Story of a "Dark" Horse + +SALMON-SPEARING 165 + +CARPE DIEM 182 + By the Author of "Mountain, Meadow and Mere" + +NEWMARKET 192 + By Captain R. BIRD THOMPSON + +KATE'S DAY WITH THE OLD HORSE 207 + By CLIVE PHILLIPS WOLLEY + +SOME CURIOUS HORSES 235 + By Captain R. BIRD THOMPSON + +SPORTING FOR MEN OF MODERATE MEANS 259 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +PARTRIDGE MANORS AND ROUGH SHOOTING 285 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +WHO IS TO RIDE HIM? 302 + By "OLD CALABAR" + +A CUB-HUNTING INVITATION 331 + By the EDITOR + +TOLD AFTER MESS 336 + By the EDITOR + + + + +SPORTING OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT DAY + + +"O tempora! O mores!" how our grandsires would stare if they could +only see how differently sporting in all its branches is carried on +now-a-days; it would make their pigtails stand on end, and the brass +buttons fly off their blue coats in very fright. + +There are few of the Squire Western school now left; but occasionally +you may still come across some jovial old sportsman of eighty years +or more, who, though his form is shrunken, and his snow-white head +proclaims that many winters have passed over it, yet carries a pair of +eyes as bright and keen as of yore, eyes that glisten again when he +launches forth on his favourite hobby. + +I know several gentlemen nearer eighty than seventy who still shoot, +and keep a fine kennel of dogs. One of these gentlemen only last year +took a moor in Scotland for five years. May he live to enjoy it and +renew his lease. + +I could name many close on, ay, over fourscore, who ride well yet to +hounds; and though they may not be such bruisers as they once were +across country, yet are difficult to choke off. + +It is just forty-one years [this was written twenty years ago] since I +had my first mount to hounds. There is no _non mi ricordo_ with me. I +can recollect the day as well as yesterday, the pinks, the beaver-hats +of curious shape, the short-tailed horses, are too vividly impressed on +my memory ever to be effaced. Men went out in those days for hunting, +and not merely for a gallop. Time changes all things, and I suppose we +must change with the times; but are these changes for the better? Well, +I will not give an opinion, but leave others to decide. + +The hounds of those days were not nearly so fast as those of the +present; and I am inclined to think that our hounds are now bred too +fine and speedy--for some countries they certainly are--and often flash +over and lose a scent which ought not to be lost. + +Hunting, in the days I speak of, could be enjoyed by men of very +moderate means, for it was not necessary to have two or three horses +out. In some countries, especially woodland ones, one horse may still +do; but, as a rule, hounds are now so fast, and horses so lightly bred +to what they were, that no hunter, however good he may be, can live +with them from find to finish. If you wish to see a run out, you must +have your first and second horsemen riding to points. These men must +not only be light-weights, but steady, know the country, save their +animals, and be there when wanted. + +You seldom, at least where I hunted, saw men driving up to the meet in +their well-appointed broughams, mail-phaetons, or what-not. A long +distance was done, in my early days, on a cover hack; and one hunter +did where three are now required. + +In the present day you see men stepping from their close carriages with +the morning papers in their hands, beautifully got up--a choice regalia +between their lips, with holland overalls to keep their spotless +buckskins from speck of dirt or cigar ashes. Very different from the +hardy men you encountered years gone by, alas! never to return +again--cantering along on a corky tit, with _leather_ overalls. Now you +have all sorts of devices--waterproof aprons _before_ and _behind_--in +my idea it only wants some enterprising man to bring out a hunting-crop +with an umbrella, something similar to the ladies' driving-whips, whip +and parasol in one, to complete the picture. Fancy men hunting with +_waterproof aprons_--they should go out for _nurses_! + +Perhaps, as years creep on, one is wont to look back on his youthful +days and fondly imagine nothing is done so well now as then. Understand, +I do not say hunting and shooting are not as good as they were. I do +both still, and enjoy them as much as ever; but there is not so much +_sport_ in them, to my mind, as formerly--men are not the _hardy_, +genuine sportsmen they were. + +Horses are much dearer now than twenty, thirty, forty years +back--provender also. Where £1 would go thirty years ago, you require +now nearly £1, 10s.; this alone prevents many men from following their +favourite pursuits. + +The time is not far distant when hunting will be given up in England; +railways, the price of land, and the high market prices which must +necessarily come with an increase of population, are doing their work +slowly but surely. The present generation are not likely to witness it: +so much the better, for it would break the hearts of some to see the +noble pastime of hunting on its "last legs." Waste land, too, is being +rapidly enclosed, and what are now wilds, fifty or sixty years hence +may be flourishing districts. + +How many country villages are now huge towns! I remember, years ago, +when I used to meet the Queen's hounds, before the South-Western line +was made, there was only one old wayside inn at Woking, which was much +resorted to by "the fancy," for it was a noted spot for pugilists. Many +and many a prize-fight have I seen there. Now Woking is a little +town--I mean the new town, not the old town some four miles distant; +and the spots where I used to knock over the snipe and plover are now +built on and enclosed. And so it will go on to the end of all time; +bricks and mortar, iron and compo, will rise up, large and small +buildings, all over the face of the country, and those whose hearts are +still bent on sport will have to go farther afield for it. + +But this is already done. France, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Bohemia, +Bavaria, and other countries, have their English sportsmen. Railways +have made nearly all places within reach of those with means. Scotch +moors that you could rent thirty years ago for £50 a year, are now +£500; the rivers the same; and grouse that are killed one day in +Scotland are eaten the next in all parts of the United Kingdom. + +Some men meet the hounds now thirty and forty miles away from home. +They breakfast comfortably at home, then step into the train, and are +whirled away with their horses and grooms; have a gallop, come home, or +perhaps go out to a grand luncheon; lounge down to their club, or do a +few calls, then dine, and go to one of the theatres to see the last new +thing; finish up with a supper or a ball, or perhaps both. + +Old Squire Broadfurrow has ridden his stout, easy-going hack to cover, +has had a clinking day, and a fox run into, as the crow flies, about +eight-and-twenty miles from his home. The old man, nothing daunted, +jogs quietly along and pulls up at the first country inn, orders a chop +for himself and a bucket of gruel for his horse, gets home in good time +to entertain three or four choice souls at dinner, ride the run over +again, and talk of some shooting they are going to have on the morrow. +Reader, which is the pleasanter style of the two? which the most +healthy? Railways and hunting I cannot reconcile with my ideas of +sport; there is a sort of cockneyism about it that I do not like; it +seems to me poor "form." + +Men change, too, in their ideas as well as their dress. I was talking +some time ago to an old friend of mine who had been an inveterate +fox-hunter, did his six days a week, and spent the seventh in the +kennel; if you asked him what Sunday it was, you always got the same +answer, "Infliction Sunday." + +I asked him how he was getting on in the hunting line. + +"Hunting, my dear fellow; why, I have given it up years ago--all +humbug! What on earth is the use of a man making a guy of himself, +putting on a pink coat, top-boots, and uncomfortable leather breeches, +and for what?--to gallop after a lot of yelping dogs, and to catch a +fox which is of no earthly use to any one when he is brought to hand; +endangering your neck, breaking fences, and destroying land and the +crops. Hunting is an idiotic fashion; half the men only hunt for the +sake of dress, and for mounting the pink. If they must hunt, why not +dress like reasonable beings, in comfortable cords, gaiters, and a +shooting-jacket? Ah! then you would not see half the men out you do +now. I am quite ashamed to think I ever hunted. Just come and look at +my shorthorns, will you?" + +In sporting parlance, I was "knocked clean out of time;" this was the +inveterate six-days-a-week man. + +"But you shoot?" I asked, seeing it was necessary to say something. + +"Oh yes! I shoot, and fish occasionally, when the May-fly is +up--anything but hunting. There, what do you think of that bull?" + +Shooting, too, is wonderfully changed. Where are the high stubbles we +so eagerly sought on the first of September?--gone, gone for ever. The +reaping-machine cuts it off now as close as the cloth on a billiard +table. + +It has often been said the birds are wilder at present than they were: +admitting this to be the case, the cause probably is the high state of +cultivation, and nothing more. There is not the cover there was +formerly to hold them, and therefore they are more difficult to get at. +Turnips are now sown in drills, and not broadcast, as grain usually +was. If you work down the drills, the birds see you, and are off the +other end: the only way is to take them across. Yet there are thousands +of places where the cover is good and plentiful; and where this is the +case the birds lie as well as ever. + +Game is scarcer than it was, except on manors that are highly +preserved: it must be remembered that where there was one shooter +formerly, there are twenty now. It is a difficult matter at present to +rent a shooting, for directly there is anything good in the market it +is snatched up at once. + +The general style of shooting of the present day is odious--large bags +are "the go." In some countries it has done away with the noble pointer +and setter altogether; nothing but retrievers are used. The guns, +beaters, and keepers are all in a line: a gun, then a keeper with a +retriever, a beater, another gun, and so on. The word is given, and +away they go, taking a field in a beat. As you fire--possibly there are +two or three guns popping at the same bird--a keeper falls out, and +finds it with his retriever, whilst you are going on. Can this be +called sport? It is nothing more than pot-hunting, wholesale butchery. +Give me my brace of pointers and setters, and let me shoot my game to +points; there is some pleasure in that. What can be a more beautiful +sight to the shooting man than to see a brace of well-bred dogs, +ranging and quartering their ground like clockwork, backing and +standing like rocks, steady before and behind, and dropping to fur and +wing, as if they were shot? Working to hand, and obeying your slightest +word--beautiful, intelligent creatures--there is some pleasure in +shooting over such animals as these. + +Then driving is another pot-hunting system, and does no end of harm; +and so those who practise it will find out before many years are over. +More game is wounded and left to pine away and die than many have an +idea of--a more cruel and unsportsmanlike system has never been thought +of, and I much regret it has its votaries. A heavy hot luncheon from a +Norwegian kitchener is now the correct thing--heavy eating and drinking +must form a prominent feature in the day's programme, otherwise it is +not sport. + +A few men are still content with their sherry-flask and sandwich, and I +would back these to beat the others into fits in a day's sport. One +does not go out to eat, but to shoot, and a man that has laid in a +heavy luncheon can neither walk well up to his dogs nor shoot straight +after it. + +Great improvements have been made in guns. The old flint that took half +an hour to load was a bore; the flint had every now and then to be +chipped and renewed, the pans fresh steeled, the touch-hole pricked, +powder put in the pan, and even then there were constant misfires and +disappointments. The flint in time gave way to the percussion, a great +improvement; but there are many inconveniences with this; unless the +nipples are kept clean, and the gun washed each time after using, +constant misfires are the consequence. Then, in cold weather it is no +end of trouble to get the caps on. With half-frozen fingers it is a +difficult job; but this has been remedied by a cap-holder, which sends +the caps up with a spring as you want them. With both flint and +percussion there were great inconveniences in loading; the spring of +your powder or shot flask might break, and then you had to judge your +charge till they were repaired. All this trouble was put an end to by +the introduction of the breech-loader, which has not half the danger, +is ten times quicker, and much more convenient in every way; the +ammunition more easily carried, and there are very few misfires. The +gun wants no washing, merely a rag passed through, and it is clean. But +I am not going into the subject of guns and all their improvements; I +have merely mentioned these to show the great stride that has been made +in the last fifty years in shot guns. + +Steeplechasing and racing I must touch on, and the little I have to say +will not be in its favour. + +The hateful passion of betting is slowly but surely ruining the turf; +for there are not the same class of men on it that there were thirty +years ago. + +Where do you see fine old sportsmen like the late Sir Gilbert +Heathcote? He raced for the pleasure of racing, and so did many others +who never betted a shilling; but it is all altered now, and not for the +better. + +Young men--ay, and old ones too--ruin themselves by betting; Government +and other clerks squander their salaries away, which might maintain +them, and perhaps a mother or a sister who is totally dependent upon +them; the butlers and footmen pawn the family plate _to meet their +engagements_; and the shop-boy is often detected _in flagrante +delicto_, with his hands in the till, purloining a half-crown or two to +enable him to go with Mary Hann to 'Ampton. You are pestered with +letters from tipsters--scoundrels who know just as much of a horse or +racing as they do of the man in the moon. The man from whom you can get +nothing else, is always ready with his advice on the momentous subject +of "what to back" for this race or that, quite ignoring the question of +whether he really does or does not "know anything," to use turf +parlance. + +Betting will never be put down entirely, but much might be done. Were I +to commence racing again, I would hit the ring and the betting +fraternity as hard as I could to scare them from backing my horses for +the future. This cannot always be done, but after one or two such +lessons people would be shy of burning their fingers over my stable. I +daresay I should be called an "old curmudgeon," "selfish brute," and +"no sportsman;" but after all said and done, you race to please +yourself, not the public. You have to pay the hay and corn bill, +trainer's expenses, and, above all, entry fees, far the heaviest item +in the whole list; and surely, if any money is to be had over a race, +the owner should be allowed "first run" at it. + +We see no Alice Hawthorns or Beeswings now-a-days; racing men cannot +afford to let their colts or fillies come to maturity: most are broken +down before they are three years old. Government ought to interfere and +put a veto on two-year-old races; this done, and the One and Two +Thousand, the Derby, Oaks, and Leger made for four-year-olds, then we +might hope to see our racehorses and hunters coming back to their +former stout form. But this we shall never see. John Bull, with his +proverbial stubbornness, will stick to his old line. + +I was one and twenty years riding and racing in France, and was highly +amused when the French first began sending over horses to us; we +generously allowed them seven pounds--half a stone. How I laughed and +chuckled in my sleeve when I heard this! After a little time Mr Bull +found this would not do, so he came to even weights; but he received +such a lesson with Fille de l'Air and Gladiateur, that it made the old +gentleman stare considerably, and pull rather a long face. + +Racing men, I will tell you what you probably already know, but will +not admit--the French could better give us seven pounds than we them: +their three-year-olds are nearly as forward as our four-year-olds. + +The climate of France is warmer than ours, horses do better and furnish +quicker there, and the time is not far distant when they will beat us +as easily as we used to beat them. It is no use disguising it; it is a +fact, and a fact, too, that is being accomplished; for no one will deny +that the French already take a pretty good share of our best stakes. +They have a climate better suited for horses, they buy our best sires +and mares, have English trainers and riders, therefore what is to +prevent them from beating us? They have done it already, and will +continue doing so. + +We have found out that when we take horses over there we are generally +beaten, and this alone ought to convince us that the French horses are +more forward than ours. Racing now-a-days is nothing more than a very +precarious speculation, and the practice of some on the turf to gain +their own ends is anything but (not to use a stronger word) creditable. + +Within the last few years, gentleman after gentleman has left the turf +disgusted and disheartened; and well they might be, for if a man is not +very careful, there is no finer school than a racecourse to pick up +swindling, dishonesty, and blackguardism. + +Your fashionable light-weight jocks of the present day have their +country houses, their valets, their broughams, hunters, and what-not. +The old riding fee of £3 for a losing race and £5 for a winning one is +seldom heard of except at little country meetings. Trainers and jockeys +are at present much bigger men than their masters; and why? because +they allow them to be so; they may owe them a long bill, or be +foolishly good-natured in putting their servants on the same footing as +themselves by undue familiarity--'Hail fellow well met' with them. + +Racing will never be what it was again, for the reasons I have +mentioned. Speculation is too rife to allow it a healthy tone. Shortly +but few gentlemen will be left as racing men, and the turf will be +represented by the lower five, and men to whom the meaning of the words +honour, honesty, principle, and conscience, are unknown. + +Coursing too, a healthy and fine amusement, even this cannot be enjoyed +without the presence of the betting fraternity, bawling and shouting. A +clean sweep should be made of them. + +Pigeon-shooting as well. Although I am not an admirer of this pastime +(sport I will not call it), yet one cannot stroll down to Hurlingham or +the Bush, to look on, but what one must be pestered with odds offered +on the gun or bird. Your shady and doubtful betting men are nuisances. +Who on earth wants to lose a lot of money to moneyless scoundrels? But +there are fools who do so, and they deserve to be fleeced. + +Many of our old sports have died out. The Ring is a thing of the past, +and so is the Cock-pit. I am savage enough to say I liked a prize-fight +and a cock-fight. When it was on the square, a prize-fight was a most +exciting scene. Yet both have very wisely been put down, and athletic +sports take their place. + +I seldom see the fine old game of bowls played now. Le gras, too, has +gone out. + +Polo, which I think nothing of, is the rage amongst gentlemen now. I +see nothing in it whatever; it is a wretched game for the _lookers-on_; +but then it is the fashion. + +The fine old game of cricket is totally altered. I shall have the +cricketing world down on me, but I care not. I think the present style +of bowling has entirely ruined the game as a game of science. There are +not many Graces in the present day, nor were there many Wards of the +olden time. Cricketers of the present day look like so many hogs in +armour; and where one man bowls tolerably over-handed, fifty who +attempt it cannot bowl at all--they are never on the spot. Consequently +the balls break anywhere. I would ten times rather stand before the +fastest man in England who is true than I would to a middling fast one +who is not. + +I remember, many, many years ago, at the Royal Clarence Cricket +Club--alas! defunct (I have the button still)--which had its ground on +Moulsey Hurst, taking old Ward's wicket the third ball with a +round-hander. It was a bit of practice we were having: I was a lad at +the time, and the old gentleman had stuck half-a-crown on the centre +stump for me to bowl at: he had no doubt played carelessly, wishing to +give me a chance. He looked surprised at seeing his wicket fall. He +coolly put them up again, and on the centre stump was a sovereign. + +"There, young fellow," he said, "bowl at _that_." I did bowl at _that_, +till I was almost ready to drop, but _that_ never came into my pocket. +Yes it did, though, but not by taking his wicket. I shall never forget +the fine old gentleman, with his bat nearly black with oil and age. +Cricket still holds, and always will deservedly hold, a high place in +our English sports. + +Boats and rowing have made immense strides for the better; the only +thing I am disposed to cavil at with regard to it is the training. I am +inclined to think the severe preparation they have to go through to get +fit, tells on the constitution of young men who are not full grown and +set. But training now is so carefully looked to, that after all there +may not be the danger one imagines. One thing is certain, that it is +much less dangerous to row or run a severe race _well prepared_: it is +inward fat that chokes men, causes apoplexy and what-not. Men in +training, if they are careful and do not catch cold, and are not too +severely taxed, have little to apprehend; and this is why an +experienced trainer is necessary. + +Bicycling, too, is a fine healthy amusement, develops the muscles and +keeps a man in wind and health: he may get all over the country and at +one-tenth the former expense of railway travelling. But bicycling, like +all other sports and exercises, has its abuses as well as its uses, and +when one sees men flying along a road (to the manifest danger of the +public) bent double over the handles of their machines, it gives one +pause, as to whether crooked backs, contracted chests, and knee trouble +are not in store for a future generation. + +There are many lakes, large and small, in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, +that cannot be either fished or shot for want of a boat. It is costly +to get a boat up the mountains, and very often, especially in Ireland, +there are no roads, or horses cannot traverse them. Therefore something +light but safe is necessary. The Rev. E. L. Berthon, of Romsey, Hants, +has invented a boat which is admirably suited for the purpose: it is a +folding canvas boat of two skins, _cannot be overset_, and is quite +buoyant if filled with water. The one I have is a fishing boat; it +carries four, but two can go with comfort; it is only 70 pounds in +weight, 9 feet long, and 4 feet broad. They are made any size, as will +be seen from the extract I give from the _Times_. + +"Berthon's Collapsible Barge.--Among other scientific devices with +which the 'Faraday' is supplied, with the view of facilitating the +laying of the Direct United States cable, is a 'collapsible barge,' the +principle of which, the invention of the Reverend E. L. Berthon--a name +already well known in nautical circles in connection with his perpetual +log--was originally applied by Mr Berthon to life-boats, a number of +which, it is stated, are in course of construction. The barge was built +by Mr E. R. Berthon, the son of the inventor, and is to be used in +laying the shore ends of the cable, of which it will carry from 20 to +30 tons with a very light draught of water. The proportions of length +in the barge are very unusual, being nearly 2 to 1, the dimensions +being, length 31 feet, width 16 feet, and depth 4 feet; such, however, +is its collapsibility, that, stowed away on the deck of the +_Faraday_, it only measures 2 feet at its greatest width. The +barge is cellular in construction, and when a small confining rope is +cast off it extends automatically, inhaling into its ten cells about +500 cubic feet of air. During the process of expansion, the jointed +bottom boards, which are 14 feet wide, fall into their places, and, +lever staunchions being placed under the gunwales, the barge is ready +for lowering in a minute or two. When in the water a very substantial +platform is lowered into the barge, composed of beams 7-1/2 inches +thick and 1 inch planks; upon this deck the cable will be coiled, and +paid over a large iron sheave at the stern-post. The barge weighs about +23 cwt., and having great powers of flotation, with light draught, is +expected to be very serviceable in laying the shore ends of the new +cable; the principle, moreover, appears to be one which it might be +found desirable to introduce into the life-boat service." + +Mine is the smallest size made, and when collapsed is only 7 inches +wide. To open and launch it takes less than one minute. It also sails +very well, and on lakes, with a small spritsail with brails, it is +exactly the thing. A prettier and more useful little boat I never had. + +I have mentioned this boat because I have often been asked about such a +thing. If by any chance the outer skin should be injured--which is not +likely, for the canvas is immensely strong--it makes but little +difference to the boat, and the injury is easily repaired. I can +strongly recommend it to any one wanting such a thing. + +But to "our mutton"--sporting of the past and the present day. +Returning to olden times, our fathers and forefathers were not ashamed +to run horses, greyhounds, etc., in their _own_ names; now men do so +more and more under _assumed_ ones. This is unfortunate, and opens the +door for many abuses; and the sooner it is put an end to the better. + +I do not believe in the early hours at which our ancestors used to take +to the field. Game is not moving very early; therefore, in partridge +shooting, dogs have not such a chance of finding game as they have an +hour or two later. Nine o'clock is quite early enough for the partridge +or grouse shooter; about four in the afternoon is the most deadly time, +because scent then begins to ascend, and the dogs catch it much +quicker, and birds are then on the feed. The stubble, at this time, is +the place to find partridges. + +It is a great mistake to walk too fast, shooting, because much game is +missed in this way; even very fast dogs require sufficient time to make +their ground good; in thick turnips you can hardly walk too slowly. + +But I must hold, these notes are growing too long under my "grey goose +quill." (I am old-fashioned enough to prefer a quill pen to a steel +one.) Old fellow-sportsmen, and young ones, adieu. May you have a good +season, and good health and spirits to enjoy it! + + + + +DOWN THE BECK + +AN ANGLING REVERIE + + +Like the dormouse, the approach of spring draws forth also the angler. +So early as February trout-fishing begins in the West of England, and +good sport may be had during March and April. May, however, is the +month of months for the trout fisher, certainly in the Midland +Counties, and wherever the May fly is found, and probably in the West +as well. With the first sunny gleams of February that herald the full +burst of spring, Halieus and Poietes may be seen rod in hand down their +streams, rejoicing that the many cold days, during which they have been +longingly fingering flies and tackle at home, are at length ended. So +many eulogies have been heaped upon fishing, which culminate in the +enthusiasm of gentle Isaak, the father of the craft, that the world +must indeed be tolerant if it can read any more. + +But between his zeal on the one hand, and the venerable dictum of Dr +Johnson on the other, lies a truer appreciation of the art of angling +with a fly as being the busy man's most suitable recreation, in the +strictest sense of the word, in these feverish days of intellectual and +social bustle. Besides the love of sport for its own sake, fly-fishing +provides numerous secondary delights and occupations for thoughtful, +observant natures. Whatever be a man's hobby, he can ride it as hard as +he chooses down the banks of a trout stream. The rigour of the game is +all very well for whist; but fishing, with no other object than killing +fish, is altogether mean and ignoble. In this pursuit the fisherman may +be conchologist, ornithologist, or botanist as well--nay, he may be all +at once, and probably is so if he be a devoted student of nature. The +poet can throw off a sonnet while he flings his fly; the clergyman will +be taught by angling, as truly as by Shakespeare, how to find sermons +in stones, and books in the running brooks. Did not St Anthony convert +heretics by preaching to the fishes? Like Narcissus of old, the lover +may see his other self mirrored in the quiet waters. Whatever be his +profession, while the angler meditatively saunters on with a blade of +grass between his lips, his thoughts will sooner or later be certain to +find their own peculiar bent. Even the philosopher ought to be +attracted from his study to the brook. Plutarch tells how the +Pythagoreans abstained from eating fish, deeming them, on account of +their dumbness, creatures most kindred to the philosophic mind. +Theology itself has not scrupled to embalm the highest mysteries under +the symbol of a fish; and grave bishops at present do not disdain +exploits with the salmon-rod that are duly chronicled in the columns of +the _Field_. Thus, the true angler may well join Sir H. Wotton in +deeming the hours spent on his favourite sport "his idle time not idly +spent," even if he cannot echo his sentiment that "he would rather live +five May months than forty Decembers."[1] We have always regretted that +good Bishop Andrewes, the model of a saint, a scholar, and a divine, +did not angle. What additional zest would it not have lent to those +rambles of which his biographer speaks in such simple language! "His +ordinary exercise and recreation was walking, either alone by himself, +or with some other selected companion, with whom he might confer and +argue and recount their studies; and he would often profess that to +observe the grass, herbs, corn, trees, cattle, earth, waters, heavens, +any of the creatures, and to contemplate their natures, orders, +qualities, virtues, uses, &c., was ever to him the greatest mirth, +content, and recreation that could be; and this he held to his dying +day."[2] + + [1] Walton's Life of Sir Hy. Wotton. + + [2] Life of Bishop Andrewes by H. Isaacson, his amanuensis. + Andrewes' works, Anglo-Catholic Library. + + "Wisdom's self + Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude; + Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation, + She plumes her feathers." + +There is little doubt that had the writer of these well-known lines +been able to tear himself from his books for any diversion, it would +have been in order to angle. A great authority recommends a man weighed +down with overwhelming mental trouble to learn a new language by way of +diverting his thoughts from self; it would be far more efficacious for +him to sally out fishing, not, certainly, to stand for hours beside a +sullen pool angling with float and worm--this would be to invite +suicide--but to ramble down the bank of some winding stream, burdened +with nothing heavier than a clear conscience and a light fly-rod. Then +may St Nicholas speedily befriend his votary! + +Now put on your flies--a green drake, by all means, if it be May--if +not, nothing can be better than the "red spinner," the "coachman," and, +above all, "the professor," from its taking qualities--fit namesake of +Christopher North. We have reached the Beck, and this warm south wind +"will blow the hook to the fishes' mouth." Without the abundance of +trout, which, according to Audubon, characterised the river Sehigh in +North America, where he "was made weary with pulling up the sparkling +fish allured by the struggles of the common grasshopper," the Beck +possesses--what is more grateful to the true angler--a fair amount of +fish, which it requires considerable skill to hook. The local name, +"beck," shows that it runs through a country which was overrun by the +Northmen, and its character is not dissimilar to theirs. It has none of +the abrupt headlong manner of a pure Keltic brook, overcoming all +obstacles by sheer persistent force, as seen in Wales, in the +Highlands, and in North Devon. Nor does it wind along in slow, deep +volume, like a Teutonic brook, or the offshoot of a Dutch canal, bereft +indeed of all the lighter graces which adorn a beautiful stream, but +irresistible withal, and beneficent. It rather unites the two +characters, meandering with crystal eddies and murmurous flow, + + "Kissing the gentle sedges as it glides," + +now circumventing a hillock that could not well be sapped, and now, as +befits the length of its course, flowing silently, with full streams, +through a croft knee-deep in daisies and meadowsweet; lovingly cutting +its sinuous S's through the sward, as Izaak Walton carved his initials +on Casaubon's tablet in Westminster Abbey; and yet again, like the +Laureate's brook, + + "Chattering over stony ways, + With many a silvery waterbreak + Above the golden gravel,"-- + +happy combination of elements from the diverse nationalities that make +up the English nation. It distinguishes the names of the parishes +through which it passes in some places by the Norman addition to them +of "le beck," while they themselves frequently terminate, after the +Scandinavian fashion, in "by" (_i.e._, dwelling). However, as there are +in Lincolnshire alone two hundred and twelve places which have this +termination, the exact locality of this particular beck can only be +dimly guessed; and, sooth to say, if the angler has a failing, it +consists in a natural dislike to reveal the exact situation of his +favourite "stickles" to another. + +Few objects in nature are so beautiful as running water; it soothes the +mind as well as the eye, and disposes to reflection, sobering the jar +of contending passions in the soul as it gleams along, always different +in its chequered eddies, and yet always the same. The vegetation that +springs on the brink of a stream very much heightens its charms to the +true angler, who is always more or less of an artist and poet. Round +this beck there are, indeed, no ferns tufting each projecting shelf, +and seizing upon every bare stone and decayed tree. East Anglian +scenery is wofully deficient in this element of the picturesque; but +wild flowers gem its banks, + + "Thick set with agate and the azure sheen + Of turkis blue and emerald green + That in the channel strays." + +At every turn the marsh marigold blazes in brilliant golden clumps, +while the water violet and bladderwort, most curious of our +water-weeds, find place round many of the deeper pools. Overhead, too, +hoary willows lend a great charm to the scenery, and patriarchal thorn +bushes, that glitter with snow-flowers every May, and wonder at +returning winter as they view their whiteness reflected below, while +abundance of forget-me-nots, "for happy lovers," seek the most retired +spots. Too often in the south of the county, as, for instance, round +Croyland Abbey, lines of melancholy poplars disfigure the prospect, as +they do (alas! _did_) round Metz, Avignon, and other French towns. +It is curious, by the way, that so vivacious a people as the French +should be fond of this, the most _triste_ of trees. Here, however, +willows are in exact keeping with the landscape; and as they turn the +glaucous under-surface of their leaves to the light in the shivering +breezes, instead of sadness, they speak of joy to the angler, for it is +just when these capfuls of wind blow that the lazy trout in the holes +under their shade rise eagerly at the fly. Once every year, in the city +church of St James, in accordance with a benefactor's will, a sermon on +flowers is preached from some floral text, to a congregation mainly +composed of young people, each of them careful to carry a nosegay with +them to the service. A walk down the beck, to one who knows anything of +botany, or, better still, who really loves our wild flowers, is in +itself a perpetual sermon. And how much are its exhortations +strengthened if the angler be somewhat of an ornithologist! What a +joyous melody proceeds from the ivy-covered fir, as Will Wimble[3] +makes his way to the beck! + + [3] "He makes a May-fly to a miracle, and furnishes the whole + country with angle-rods."--_Spectator_, No. 108. + + "That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, + Lest you should think he never can recapture + The first fine careless rapture." + +On this sunny bank, in the first gleam of spring sunshine, may be +noticed a sprightly little bird hopping along, glad to have completed +his migration to our shore--the wheatear, which Tennyson aptly terms +(if we read him aright) "the sea-blue bird of March." And later on, the +cuckoo is first heard down this glade, gleefully "telling her name to +all the hills," till June renders her hoarse, and the clear note +becomes "Cuck-cuckoo! Cuck-cuck-cuckoo!" and endless is the harsh +iteration if another of her family answer the challenge. Peering +carefully round a thicket, too, may be seen the waterhen, proudly +tempting her black brood to cross the stream for the first time; or +haply a wild duck, that has sat on her eggs till the angler's foot +almost touches her, flaps suddenly her wings, and skims under the +overhanging alders. If the fisherman be an observant lover of nature, +these and the like country sights and sounds will bring him great +contentment even though he take no fish. And so speaks Dame Juliana +Berners, in her "Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle"--one of the +quaintest productions of early English literature:--"Atte the best he +hath his holsom walk and merry at his ease, a swete ayre of the swete +savoure of the meede flowres: that makyth hym hungry. He hereth the +melodyous armony of fowles. He seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, +duckes, cotes, and many other foules wyth theyr brodes. And yf the +angler take fysshe, surely thenne is there noo man merier than he is in +his spyryte." + +Down this beck an artistic eye will find many a feast of colour. The +keeper's cottage stands on a high bank; and a more charming domestic +subject was never painted, even by Millais, than one which may be +noticed there any day in August. His little girl, bare-headed and +rosy-cheeked with the merriest of light-blue eyes, stands under a +forest of sun-flowers, which spread their huge yellow discs above, +while sunbeams break through and leave their gold on the little +maiden's hair, and play round her, earnest, we will hope, of her +future, as she drops a courtesy to the passing angler. A little farther +on, the briony, with its brilliant berries, will festoon the grey trunk +of its cherishing oak with a glory, in autumn, that cannot but charm +the eye. The wild hyacinths of April are like a fold of blue sky that +has descended upon the wooded hollows. In the thatch of the labourer's +cottage is one deeply-set window, with a few tiles under it, on which +lichens and moss have established a footing. It has just rained, and +the contrast between their vivid greens and the brilliant red tiles is +delicious. It is thus that much of the monotony inseparable from a dull +country may be relieved, by judiciously educating the vision to find +beauties where ordinary eyes see nothing unusual. The pensiveness of an +angler's "sad pleasure" will be found agreeable leisure for this +purpose. + +The various animals again to be found down the Beck, and the intimate +acquaintance which can be made with them in their native haunts, form +by no means the least of its charms. It is wonderful how tame all wild +creatures become, and how their characters expand to men, who, like +Waterton and Thoreau, the American naturalist, take pains to gain their +confidence. The water rats, timid enough when any other foot +approaches, look with fearless friendship on the gentle angler. At his +ease he may watch them perched on a raft of drifted sticks and weeds +nibbling the arrowhead with the utmost composure, or swimming about +like a miniature colony of beavers. It is cheering to reflect, when +they are seen under such circumstances, that although the miller may +owe them a grudge for undermining the banks of his dam, they are of all +animals the most harmless to the farmer. He is too often, however, apt +to confound them with the destructive pests of the granary, and (though +they are really voles and not rats) to lump all together as vermin, and +issue an edict of universal extermination accordingly. What a blessed +day will it be for the lower animals when farmers imbibe a taste for +natural history! At dusk may often be discerned down the Beck another +innocent creature, the hedgehog, long remorselessly hunted down because +vile calumnies had attached themselves to him of eating partridges' +eggs and being addicted to sucking milk from cows. The latter +accusation is simply an impossibility, while as to the former, we are +afraid it is too true that he has a sneaking liking for eggs; but the +damage he does is infinitesimally small, when not computed by +gamekeepers' arithmetic. A pair of hedgehogs making love in their +curiously awkward fashion, puffing and blowing like grampuses, is a +strange sight; while the piglings, before their spines have grown, form +the most amusing of pets. About the saddest spectacle that we ever +witnessed was an old hedgehog that had been cut asunder by a train, at +a railway crossing, while her brood of six or eight were still round +her, unharmed and wondering what had happened. We transported the poor +orphans to the nearest damp ditch and left them to the rough care of +Mother Nature. Not very far from the Beck is a colony of badgers, an +animal much persecuted where any linger in other parts of the country, +but in this East Anglian shire acquiring a decided commercial value. +Anything that will encourage foxes is here greatly in request, +consequently badgers are deemed useful creatures in a cover, as they +make earths which afterwards tempt Reynard to take possession. An +angler is a subject of perpetual wonder to cows; but too often as he +turns round from the water's edge in some rich meadow, he finds himself +the centre towards which the curved fronts of two or three oxen +converge uncomfortably close, literally placing him on the horns of a +dilemma. The sleek heifers, however, approach him without any signs of +attack or trepidation, and often run the risk of being caught as he +rapidly draws his flies back for a cast. Tame ducks and water rats are +frequently thus caught; but the most singular coincidence of this kind +happened to a friend who, on going down the Otter to fish, had to cross +a bridge. Whirling his flies over this as he passed, a swallow, darting +underneath, took one and was captured. On his return in the evening he +again whisked his flies over the bridge, and a bat, snapping at one +under the arches, was taken in the same ignominious manner. + +All this time, as is not uncommon with lovers of nature, we have lost +sight of our main purpose in coming down the brook--fishing, to wit. +The art boasts a long descent, according to Walton, the highest +authority to whom a fisherman can bow. "Some say it is as ancient as +Deucalion's flood; others that Belus, who was the first inventor of +godly and virtuous recreations, was the first inventor of angling," +with much more to the same purport. It is a curious commentary on the +aristocratic principles of the fifteenth century to find Dame Berners, +in the aforementioned "Treatyse," confining the sport to the well-born. +She could not imagine it a recreation of the multitude, or even of +"ydle persones." With her it is emphatically "one of the dysportes that +gentylmen use." Her enthusiasm for the sport knows no bounds, and must +have made many generations of Englishmen anglers. The treatise +evidently supplied the idea of "Walton's Angler," the book which next +to "White's Selborne," has gone through more editions than any other +secular work in the language. "It shall be to you a very pleasure to se +the fayr bryght shynynge scalyd fysshes dysceyved by your crafty +meanes, and drawen upon lande," she says; but, either fishermen have +become less skilful since her days, or trout more timorous, if we may +judge from her wonderful frontispiece of a man angling (and that +successfully) with a rod like a flail, and tackle resembling the trace +of a carriage. + +Neither the salmon, monarch of the salmonidæ, nor the lovely grayling, +which is only found in midland and Welsh waters, is to be expected in +the Beck. Still the common river trout is no mean antagonist for an +angler's mettle. Of all fish trout are most vigilant and suspicious; +the least unwary movement, adventuring even a hand out of shelter or +into bright sunshine, incautiously thrusting his head over the bank, or +interfering in any way with the skyline, will certainly betray the +angler. He may gain a slight advantage over their craft, however, by +remembering that their habit is to feed with their heads to the stream. +A beginner may rest assured that the golden secret of success in +trout-fishing is to keep well out of the fishes' sight by availing +himself of every natural cover, a tree-trunk, bush, &c., or by +approaching the stream, if he is very much exposed, in a stooping +position. He must, for the most part, learn, by observation, the many +singular habits and characteristics of his quarry, and here it is that +the old fisherman excels the tyro. The remarkable manner in which the +fish's colours change with the nature of the stream in which it lives, +is one of these curiosities of the trout. There is all the difference +in the world between a fish taken from the chalky streams of Wilts and +one that inhabits the dark peaty burns of Devon or South Wales, while +both are inferior in beauty to the red-spotted lusty fish of a +Nottinghamshire river. Internally they are of two types, one with red +flaky flesh, like salmon, the other white; these variations, however, +frequently run into each other. The practical fisherman only can +appreciate the great diversity of activity which exists in fish of +different sizes and streams, and probably in the same fish in the prime +and end of the season. In one bickering rivulet the trout will all be +vigorous and bold, leaping out of the water when hooked and dying hard, +"game to the back-bone," in sporting phrase. In a sluggish brook the +fish seem often to participate in its idiosyncracy, the larger ones +tamely surrendering after a few monotonous struggles, the little trout +diving to the bottom, and, like tench, hiding their heads in the mud. +We have had to stir such fish up with the landing net before it was +possible to do anything with them. Another curious fact is, that if a +fish be taken out of a favourite hole, another will almost always be +found to have replaced it the next day. Perhaps the most remarkable +theory which has been advanced concerning the intelligence of trout is +that of Sir H. Davy in "Salmonia," which he terms their "local memory." +A brief outline may furnish one more subject of observation to the +philosophic angler. Sir H. Davy asserts that if a trout be pricked with +a fly (say a blue upright), and then escape, he will never rise again +in the same pool to that particular fly while the surrounding +circumstances are the same. Drive him, however, down to another hole, +or wait till a flood has changed the aspect of his familiar haunt, and +he will take it as greedily as a fish that has never experienced the +deceit of an artificial fly. The associations of bank, stones, +tree-trunks, &c., in his hole, act like visible mentors, and remind +him, as the fly passes overhead, that it was when surrounded by their +associations he was simple enough to rise to its fascinations. Solving +such questions as these is one of the numerous secondary delights of +fly-fishing. Another speculation which may be pointed out to anglers of +an inquiring turn of mind, is to demonstrate why sluggish, muddy +streams invariably produce better fish than the sparkling Devon or +Welsh brooks. Thus in the Beck, down which our ideal fisherman is +wandering, the largest fish which has been taken of late years weighed +three pounds and a half, while trout of a pound and a half in weight +are by no means uncommon. Three-quarters of a pound is a fair size for +the fish of mountainous streams, while the majority of their trout do +not exceed half a pound. Doubtless, the greater abundance of worms and +ground bait in a muddy brook contributes to the larger size of its +fish, but it certainly is not the sole cause of their superiority. + +The flies which the modern angler imitates in fur and feathers, belong +mostly to the families which entomology knows under the names of +_phrygancæ_ and _ephemeræ_. All anglers should know something of these +curious tribes; and nowhere is a better account of them to be found +than in that fascinating book, "Salmonia." The _phrygancæ_ (the +"stone-flies" of the angler) have long antennæ, with veined wings which +fold over each other when closed. The eggs of the adult flies are laid +on the leaves of willows or other trees which overhang the water. When +they are hatched, the larvæ fall into the stream, collect a panoply of +gravel, bits of stick, shell-fish, &c., to surround them, and after +feeding for a time on aquatic plants, rise to the surface, burst their +skins, and appear as perfect flies. The _ephemeræ_ (or "May-flies") +were noticed so long ago as Aristotle's time, in connection with the +brevity of their life. They may be known by carrying their wings +perpendicularly on their backs, and by several filaments or long +bristles protruding from their tails. Their aqueous existence, like the +stone-flies', sometimes lasts for two or three years; but as flies +their life is thought never to exceed a few days in length, often but a +few hours. In fact their life is, to all intents and purposes, over +when their eggs are laid, and this function takes place directly they +emerge into the winged state. Besides these, however, there are +multitudes of nondescript flies used by those anglers who commit +themselves to the persuasive powers of the fishing-tackle maker, and +fill their fly-books with his gorgeously-coloured creations; but with +the stone-flies, May-flies, and other simple flies previously +enumerated, most real anglers are contented. + +The greatest nuisance to the fisherman on the banks of the Beck are the +hovering swarms of flies and gnats. Nature's profusion is almost +inexhaustible in this division of her kingdom. In hot, sunny weather, +they persecute the angler till he well-nigh gives up his sport, and +betakes himself to moralize how his situation, lonely though it be, is +no inapt type of a man's spiritual loneliness in the midst of that +crowd of his fellows called Society, + + "Where each man walks with his head in a cloud of poisonous flies." + +Yes, here is the whole winged legion avenging, as it were, the slight +the angler puts upon them by his grotesque imitations, in number and +description more fell than Walton ever imagined in the marvellous flies +he directs his disciples to dub--"the Prime Dun, Huzzard, Death Drake, +Yellow Miller, Light Blue, Blue Herl," and all the rest! It would +require a piscatorial entomologist to identify them; and when they buzz +around their victims, how well can these enter into Dante's grim fancy +of the wicked in hell being exposed naked to the stings of wasps and +flies! It is useful, however, to be thus reminded that even so innocent +a sport as angling has its drawbacks. Perhaps such small annoyances +should be received as part of the discipline of fishing; winged +blessings they then become, modes of teaching unpleasant, perchance, at +the time, but none the less fraught with profit to the true angler, who +is always more or less of a moralist. + +It is time, though, to turn homewards. Our endeavour has been to depict +some of the charms connected with angling, and to recommend it as a +recreation specially adapted for the feverish agitation of modern +social life. Over and above its immediate end, it is a school for moral +virtues and the observing faculties which cannot be too highly +honoured. The fisherman, like the poet, must be born; but he owes his +success, even more than the poet, to perseverance and observation. +However long the sport may be intermitted, when a man has once tasted +its joys, and imbibed a thorough love of angling, he resumes it with +eagerness on the first favourable opportunity. Nay, the taste is one +which deserts not its votary in death. Few angling reminiscences are +more touching than the scene which his daughter has described so +pathetically, when poor Christopher North lay on his death-bed. In the +intervals of his malady, he had his fly-books brought to him, and +derived a melancholy pleasure from taking out his old favourites one by +one, and lovingly caressing their bright plumage and carefully tied +wings, as they were spread out on the sheets. It must be confessed that +angling is justly open to the charge of being a solitary, taciturn, +meditative sport, which shuts a man out from his kind. We are cynical +enough to fancy that if he be shut up with Nature instead, he will +suffer no great harm. Indeed, to admit the impeachment is only +tantamount to owning that fishing, after all, is but of this world, and +necessarily an imperfect energy. Herein lies its chief excellence in +the eyes of hard workers; so there is no need elaborately to refute the +objection. Let a man try it, and _solvitur ambulando_. So good is it +that the aforesaid Dame Juliana indulges in no exaggeration when she +says--pardon once more an angler's loquacity--"Ye shall not use this +forsayde crafty dysporte for no covetysenes to th'encreasynge and +sparynge of your money oonly, but pryncypally for your solace, and to +cause the helthe of your body and especyally of your soule." Though it +be to our own loss, we would nevertheless invite every reflective mind +to the Beck, to derive inspiration and satisfaction from communion with +the simple joys of nature. May skill and perseverance there bring the +angler the usual happy results, and--blessing of blessings where +fishing is concerned--may his shadow never be less! + + M. G. W. + + + + +AN APOLOGY FOR FISHING + + +Ever since the time when the famous definition of angling as a +combination of "a stick and a string with a worm at one end and a fool +at the other" was first given to the world, it has been the custom of a +large section of society to disparage the particular sport, which has +for its object the catching of fish, very much more than any of the +other developments which the killing propensity takes among sportsmen. +When a man mentions that he is going off on a fishing expedition, the +announcement is not met with the respect which is accorded to him who +proclaims the fact that he has it in contemplation to spend a day in +beating the turnips for partridges, or riding across country in pursuit +of a fox. People have a provoking way of smiling when fishing is spoken +of; and when they meet you, armed with the necessary paraphernalia +which makes up an angler's equipment, their countenances directly +assume either an amused expression, indicating a state of feeling not +very remote from absolute pity, or a look of delicate forbearance which +is almost the more difficult to bear of the two. + +There surely never was any pastime regarded with so little respect as +this of fishing. But one good quality (that of patience) is ever +identified with it; and even that, when connected with this particular +sport, is sometimes spoken of in a disparaging tone; so that it is by +no means an uncommon thing to hear a man brag of his deficiency in this +respect, saying, "I've not got patience enough for that sort of thing"; +as if the fact redounded enormously to his credit. + +"Going fishing?" says your hearty friend as he meets you in the hall, +equipped for the sport, "You must be hard up for some amusement--for of +all the deadly-lively proceedings----" + +"Going fishing?" says another. "Well, it's certainly too early in the +season for anything else in the way of sport; but still----" + +The very partisans of fishing, too, help, in a certain way, to bring it +into discredit. What a literature it has! The literature of all sport +is apt to be trying; but this of fishing is surely especially +disastrous. The facetious element always figures here in such grievous +force. Nor only that. Dreadful conventional forms of expression, +phrases in inverted commas, involved ways of expressing a simple thing, +abound--so that one meets continually with such expressions as the +"gentle craft" and the "finny tribe." The sportsman who devotes himself +to fishing is called a "member of the piscatorial fraternity," or a +"brother of the angle," or a "disciple of 'old Izaak,'" or by some +other roundabout and exasperating designation. Why it is that people +who write on this particular subject cannot express their ideas in +plain English and avoid such forms of speech as the above it is +difficult to say; but so it is. + +These stereotyped phrases are to be ranked among the conventionalities +of "piscatorial" literature. Another of these is a perpetual insistence +upon the contemplativeness of character which this particular sport +tends to develop in those who engage in it. The fisherman is supposed +to be left by his pursuit at leisure to ponder and reflect on all sorts +of abstract questions wholly unconnected with what he is about. Fishing +is called the contemplative man's recreation, and seems, indeed, to be +looked upon by a very large section of society as a sort of excuse for +mooning. For my poor part I confess that it seems to me that the fact +is far otherwise. If there is one thing more than another necessary to +fishing, it is that the man who engages in it should have all his wits +about him, and be thoroughly absorbed in what he is doing. A fisherman +who took to being contemplative would, I fancy, stand but a poor chance +of catching anything, and would certainly find himself involved in many +difficulties connected with the management of his rod and line. While +he was contemplating, his fly would speedily get itself fastened to +some neighbouring tree, or fixed, may be, into some unattainable part +of the contemplative one's own costume; while, if the line were +suffered to remain in the water, the flies would certainly be carried +by the current into a bed of weeds, or get twisted round a stone at the +bottom of the river. + +The study of the beauties of nature, again, is an occupation which +angling is supposed to lend itself to. Yet even this, as it seems to +me, is hardly likely to be carried very far by the really keen +sportsman. When walking briskly across the hill or on the moorland on +his way to the river he may, indeed, take note of the picturesque +outlines of a distant mountain or the rich colouring of a patch of +heather and fern, just as he is conscious of the freshness of the air +or the warmth of the sun; but he will hardly, when there is any fishing +to do, be likely to dwell on any of these delights, however much he may +revel in them at other times. When once he gets really to work he is +entirely absorbed in the sport, and will think of little or nothing +else till the time comes for putting up his traps and going home. And +it is just this which gives such value to every form of sport, and +makes them so essential an element in the troublous life of the +nineteenth century. They absorb the thoughts and confine the attention, +for the time being, to what--in a comparative sense--may fairly be +called trifles. You cannot occupy yourself with any deep abstract +speculation when it is a question of catching a trout or bringing down +a partridge. + +The fact is that a prodigious amount of ignorance prevails in +connection with the sport of angling. People class all forms and modes +of fishing together, and include them every one under the definition +given at the commencement of this paper. The prevalent idea in the +minds of most people is that fishing consists of sitting in an +arm-chair in a punt watching a float bobbing up and down in the water, +and partaking at intervals of very flat beer served out of a stone jar +by the attendant boatman. Now this--the very lowest form of fishing +that exists, and, unhappily, the form under which it is the oftenest +and most conspicuously presented to view--so little really represents +this particular sport, that I think I am hardly speaking too strongly +in saying that no real fisherman would consent to hear such a +proceeding classed under the head of fishing at all. When a sportsman +speaks of fishing, he is thinking either of fly-fishing or spinning, +and most generally of the former. + +For fly-fishing, rightly engaged in, it is not too much to claim a very +high position indeed among the sports of the field; many of the +qualities on which it makes demands being the same which are required +for the other forms of sport, while it also implies some which are not +called for in those others, except, perhaps, in that of deer-stalking. + +To be a perfectly good fisherman a man requires strength, agility, +spirit, quickness and accuracy of eye, a neat hand, a nimble foot, +considerable ability as a tactician, presence of mind, and coolness, +coupled with the power of keeping his wits always about him. Nor is +this all; a fisherman must have, besides, certain moral qualifications +of an exalted nature. He must be possessed of patience, perseverance, +and good temper; and, in addition to all this, he must thoroughly well +understand his business in all its more intricate technicalities. Let +us proceed to consider some of the points here insisted on a little in +detail. + +In fishing for trout with an artificial fly--a branch of sport to +which, with the reader's permission, we will in this 'Apology' entirely +confine ourselves--it is necessary, as it is in a great many other +things, that a man should thoroughly understand what it is that he is +doing--how, in short, the case stands. It stands thus. He sees before +him a sheet of water, containing, as he has reason to suppose, a +certain number of fish, some comparatively stationary, some darting +hither and thither, all very much alive, very watchful, constantly on +the look-out both for what may bring them advantage in the shape of +food of divers kinds, or for what may give them cause for apprehension, +in the shape of fish larger than themselves and of a predatory nature, +herons, otters and, above all, men. To these creatures, vigilant, +timorous, suspicious, it is the angler's business to present an object +which they are to suppose is an insect which has dropped into the water +and is floating down with the stream more or less near to the surface. +If the fisherman succeeds in conveying this impression; if his +counterfeit insect is a successful piece of imitation; if the fly which +it imitates is one for which the fish has a liking, and if the fish +itself happens at the particular moment to be "on the feed"--if all +these conditions are fulfilled, then it will happen that the trout will +rise swiftly through the water, will seize the bait, and the +fisherman's object will be gained. This desirable consummation is, +however, harder of attainment than might be supposed. + +Very much is implied in the bringing that transaction which has just +been described to a successful issue. If the particular portion of the +stream into which you throw your fly is not the spot where a trout +lies, if your fly is not well imitated from nature, or does not +represent the kind of insect which the fish affects, if the hook is too +little concealed, or the line too coarse, above all, if you yourself +are conspicuous, standing on the bank, your chance of inducing a trout +to rise is slender in the extreme. The fact is that the fisherman ought +to look at this transaction from the trout's point of view and not from +his own. Of the fishing-rod and line, and of the person who manipulates +them, the trout must be kept wholly unconscious. This sounds a simple +statement enough; but it does, in fact, imply a great deal. In the +first place it implies that both the water and the atmosphere shall be +in a condition favourable to the mystifying and confusing of the fish +which we are bent on capturing. The atmosphere should not be bright and +clear to an excess, nor, by rights, the water either. The water, again, +should be, to a certain extent, troubled and agitated. This is effected +in a running stream by the current; but in lakes and calm, deep rivers, +especially in the former, it can only be brought about by a certain +amount of wind, and for lake-fishing it may therefore be confidently +asserted that a slight breeze is absolutely indispensable. A line +falling on perfectly smooth water, however fine and delicate such line +may be, or however skilfully cast, will make a certain amount of +splash, which would awaken the misgivings of any fish which happened to +be near. + +One of the greatest of all the difficulties connected with the catching +of fish is that experienced by the sportsman in keeping himself out of +sight. At the first glimpse of a man moving by the side of the river, +every fish at once darts away as fast as his fins can carry him. To +this assertion there are few people who would venture to demur; and yet +how common it is to see a fisherman placed on a high bank, with his +whole figure in strong relief against the sky, and moving down the +water, with all the fish in the river facing him as they lie with their +heads up-stream. It can only be by some strange accident that he will +take a fish under such circumstances. + +Almost the first thing which the fisherman should think of in setting +about his business is to conceal himself as much as possible. There are +several ways in which this may be effected. In the first place, if the +wind will at all allow of it, he should always fish up-stream, as he +will then have the backs of the fish turned towards him instead of +their faces. Fishing up-stream is more difficult and more laborious +than fishing down, the current bringing the line back almost as fast as +it is thrown in, so that the labour of casting it is almost incessant. +Still, for the reason given above, it is better. It is good again for +the angler to get behind some big rock or bush large enough to hide the +greater part of his figure, remaining there, with as little motion as +possible, till he has thoroughly fished every speck of water within his +reach. Or if there are no bushes or rocks to be had for purposes of +ambush, it behoves him to crawl along on the lowest part of the bank on +his knees, aiding himself with the hand which is not engaged with the +fishing-rod, and sometimes even to wriggle himself along after the +manner of a snake--anything to diminish his conspicuousness. + +Now all this is not by any means easy of accomplishment. To creep along +in the manner just described, encountering some obstacle at almost +every step--huge stones which, unless he is very careful, he tumbles +over, small tributary streams which he plunges into--to get over and +through all these difficulties, in a doubled-up position, which renders +feats of agility very difficult indeed to accomplish, is not an easy +task, especially as all the time he has to wave his line round and +round in the air, to be ready for a long cast when he at last sees his +way to that consummation. This is arduous work, depend on it, and yet, +short of this, I don't know how, under some circumstances, his object +is to be obtained. For fly-fishing, to be attended with success, is not +a simple operation, but, on the contrary, a very complicated one, as +any proceeding involving so exceedingly intricate a _ruse_ as this one +does, inevitably must be. That it _is_ a _ruse_ there can be no sort of +doubt. Unless you succeed in taking this creature in, you will never +succeed in capturing him. This is no open onslaught, as is the case in +shooting and hunting. Strategy is your only chance, and the more deeply +laid your plot, the greater is your chance of succeeding. + +There is one element in the construction of this deeply-laid scheme +which requires to be considered with an especial carefulness. The +structure of the fly which is to be set before the trout on whose +capture we are bent is an ingredient in the transaction the importance +of which must by no means be overlooked. It should of all things--and +this is a point not enough considered by the makers of these little +works of art--be one which looks well in the water. There are many +flies sold which appear perfectly right and natural while they remain +out of the water, but which, when once they are thoroughly wetted, +assume an entirely different and most inferior appearance. The loose +wool and feather strands, which form the body of the fly, get matted +together and the whole mass of them much reduced in size; the wings +cease to stand out away from the body and from each other, and the +hook, owing to the reduction of the size of the fly generally, which is +effected by the tightening influence of the water, is left much too +bare and prominent. The best way to obviate these difficulties is to +make the body of the fly somewhat fuller and more fluffy than it is +intended to be, and to dress it as far down towards the bend of the +hook as is compatible with symmetry of structure. The hook is sure to +be conspicuous enough at best, but every pains should be taken to make +it as little so as possible. We are particular about all sorts of +minute considerations of colour and form; we refuse to allow of the +deviation of the sixteenth of an inch from the right standard in the +length of a tail, or of the faintest false shade in the colouring of a +wing--in all these matters we are exact and scrupulous, and rightly so; +but is it quite consistent with such close attention to detail that we +should be indifferent to so remarkable a deviation from the right model +as is found in the immense and conspicuous hook which protrudes beyond +the body of our counterfeit insect, and which seems quite as much +calculated to attract attention as any other part of the fly? Of +course, to some extent, this cannot be helped, the hook being a +necessity of the fisher's case, but surely it might in many instances +be much more carefully concealed than it is. The fly might, for +instance, be dressed not actually on the shank of the hook, but on a +piece of gut or bristle attached to it and hanging loose on the hook so +as almost to hide it. In putting on a worm as a bait--the worm having +the advantage of being the real thing--we take the utmost pains to +conceal the hook; in putting on the fly--which has the disadvantage of +being not the real thing but a counterfeit--why should we not do +precisely the same thing? + +It cannot be insisted on too strongly and too frequently that the whole +of this transaction, which we call fly-fishing, is, from beginning to +end, a most elaborately carried out piece of deception. But troublesome +and difficult and inseparably connected with all sorts of +disappointments as it is, yet is the game unquestionably well worth the +candle, fishing, when really successful, being beyond all question one +of the most delightful of occupations, while even when only moderately +successful, it is full of charm and interest to any one who takes it up +in earnest. + + + + +DOGS I HAVE KNOWN + + +I was always very fond of dogs, but it was a long time before I was +allowed to have one of my own, my parents apparently considering that +dogs were composed of two equal portions of hydrophobia and fleas. My +first dog was a large brown and white spaniel with a very curious +temper. Sometimes he would lie on things in his kennel nearly all day, +for no apparent reason. If you tried to pet or coax him it did no good, +but if no attention were paid to him he would get out of the sulks and +be all right in a short time. He could never be induced to go into the +water to swim. I often attempted it by keeping him tied up without food +and then loosing him and throwing bits of biscuit into the moat near +the house. He would then pick out and eat all the bits that were within +his reach by wading, but would not make the least attempt to go for a +piece which was out of his depth. I once thought that I had devised a +plan by which he must swim, but it failed. It was this. There was a +high paling along one side of the moat with a strip of grass about a +foot wide between it and the water, and here I put the dog, thinking he +would be compelled to swim out, but no! after spending half the day +whining and crouching down as if he meant to jump in, he set to work +and scratched at the turf and tore at the palings with his teeth until +he made a hole big enough to get through. After this I gave up trying +to get him to swim. His temper was decidedly peculiar. When I called +him to go for a walk, if he approved of the direction taken he would +go--if not he would stand and look at me and then go straight home. +Once, however, he shewed a very remarkable and amiable trait. I left +home and went abroad for a considerable time, and in my absence my +father died. The dog at this time had not shewn any sign of attachment +to my mother, but immediately after my father's funeral, whenever he +was loose, he used to run straight to the drawing-room windows, and, if +my mother was there, would remain standing for hours looking in at her; +or, if the front door happened to be open, he would go in and walk +quietly into the drawing-room. If his mistress were there he would lie +down by her chair; up to this time he had never tried to get into the +house, and directly I returned he never attempted it again, nor even +appeared to notice my mother more than any other friend of his. Poor +old Jehou, with all his eccentricities of temper I was very fond of +him, and sorry when he disappeared. He went out with the carriage one +day, and nothing more was ever heard of him, though rewards were +offered everywhere. We were making a call and left him outside, and +when we came out he was gone. However, we thought nothing of this, +believing he would come home, but from that day forward the old Jehou +was never seen by us. + +My second dog was magnificent fellow--I never knew or heard of one +with such wonderful sagacity and apparent power of reasoning. It was a +huge black and white Newfoundlander, of the colour they now call the +"Landseer Newfoundland." I got him from an old keeper, to whom he had +been left by his late master. The man did not want him, and knowing +that I was very fond of dogs, he sold him to me, saying at the time "He +was _a'most_ a Christian"; and so he really was. Our introduction +was curious. I went off to see him, taking some food in my pocket to +make friends with him; but the man told me that was no good--that if +the dog liked the look of me he would be friends at once. When we +reached the cottage, going round to the back, I saw a most +noble-looking dog, who when we approached sat up and looked very +gravely at us. The keeper said, "I've brought a gentleman to see you, +old man," and I then spoke to him. The dog turned and looked at me +steadily for some seconds, then rising and walking slowly to me, reared +up on his hind legs, and, putting one huge paw on each shoulder, began +to lick my face. That was the introduction, and from that day until +"Wallace's" death we were the firmest of friends. The man told me he +had been broken for a keeper's night-dog, and was a first-rate +guard--would never touch a child or bite a woman, but that he would +bite any man or beast he was set at; and looking at his size and power +I did not disbelieve him. He also warned me that no one must go near +him when he was feeding. After having a full account of the dog, I went +home, Wallace following me as if we had known each other for years. +Soon after I had him, I went on a visit to a cousin who lived in a town +in the north of England, and Wallace, who went with me, distinguished +himself greatly whilst there. One evening I was to meet my cousin at +his counting-house, and at the time fixed went there, my dog, of +course, accompanying me. On reaching the office, finding that my cousin +had gone out, I sat down and waited, and as he did not make his +appearance so soon as was expected, the office-keeper came and asked me +if I would mind waiting by myself, as everything was locked up and my +cousin could fasten the outer door himself (as in fact he often did). I +had no objection, so all the gas but one small jet was turned out. Very +shortly after the office-keeper left, the door was opened very softly, +and soon a man put in his head, and not discovering me in the gloom, as +I purposely made no noise, came in; and a very ill-looking customer he +was. Discovering me, he started, and said something about an +appointment, advancing as he spoke. Directly the man got near, with one +bound Wallace was on him and had him down on his back on the floor. He +tried to draw something out of his sleeve, but Wallace instantly seized +his throat--gently, it is true, but enough to give him a foretaste of +what he could do. I shouted to the man to lie still or the dog would +kill him, and rising up and going to him found he had an iron jemmy in +his hand, which I took--warning him that if he moved the dog would +throttle him. I went and called the police; they came and secured the +fellow, who turned out to be the head of one of the most daring set of +burglars in the north. Besides the jemmy he had a brace of loaded +pistols in his pocket, and would most undoubtedly have murdered me, if +it had not been for Wallace. The man had been "wanted" by the police +for a long time, but they had never been able to get him, and there +were great rejoicings at his capture. + +Whenever I went out by day Wallace always followed me, but at night, or +in the dusk, kept close to my side, with his head almost touching my +leg. If he saw anyone coming towards me that he thought suspicious he +would go on in front, and turning with them as they came up follow them +by me, and in the same manner if anyone was overtaking me, he dropped +back, and then followed them until they had quite passed. He did one +other very clever thing whilst he was with me in the north. One morning +I had been to the club to look at the papers, etc., and on my return +home found that I had lost one of my gloves. More for the sake of +experiment than really thinking the dog would ever find the missing +glove, I took off the other, and holding it to him, made a motion like +throwing it away, saying, at the same time, "lost, Wallace, go seek." +The dog at once started off, and was away for some time--in fact, so +long, that becoming uneasy, I started off towards the club. I had gone +but a very little way when I saw Wallace coming along, and to my great +surprise, with the missing glove in his mouth. A policeman was +following him at a respectful distance, so I went up to him and asked +if he could tell me where the dog found the glove. He told me he saw +Wallace running along evidently looking for something, as he +occasionally stopped, and seemed to make sure of his direction; +following him, he saw him enter the club, and remain there a short +time. He then came out, began sniffing about on the steps, and suddenly +started off briskly. The man followed, and the dog, after going along +one of the main streets for some way, turned down a side street, and +soon overtaking an old beggar woman, made a snatch at something in her +hand, and returned at full speed. The old woman had picked up the glove +on the steps of the club, and had gone off with it, and if it had not +been for Wallace's extraordinary intelligence I should have lost my +glove. + +One day, after my return home, Wallace gave me a specimen of the +education he had received from the keeper. There was a very pretty wood +in part of our grounds with walks laid out in it. I was walking there +with Wallace, as I thought, when suddenly I heard someone roaring out, +most lustily, that the dog was killing him. I called out to know where +the man that was being killed, and he told me in the field outside, so +I went out and found him on the ground and Wallace over him--not biting +or molesting him in any way, but merely looking down at the man, +evidently very much puzzled as to why he made such a noise. Calling +Wallace off, I asked how it happened, and the man told me that he was +walking in the wood, and just stepped over the fence into the field +when the dog jumped at him, and knocked him over. The fact was, that +Wallace had been trained to go outside any cover when the keeper went +through it, and to seize any poacher that might come out. He had been +taught, too, to jump at the man and knock him down by his weight, but +not to bite or injure him in any way if he made no resistance; and I +expect few would have been so foolish as to do so when they saw his +size and appearance. + +Wallace was a most inveterate cat killer. This had been clearly part of +his early education; he killed almost every cat that he could get at. +Many were the unfortunate tabbies that he suddenly snapped up as they +were comfortably dozing on the steps of a cottage. He would go quietly +along, apparently taking very little notice of anything, +when--snap--and tabby was no more, but there was one most remarkable +exception, and this was our stable cat. I discovered it in this +way:--One day I went into the stable yard and saw the cat walking +across to where Wallace was lying by his kennel half asleep, fully +expecting to see her killed in a moment. I waited, and, to my great +astonishment, saw her walk up to him, put up her tail, and rub all +round him in the most affectionate manner, and as she passed his head, +Wallace just looked up and gave her a lick with his tongue. Seeing me, +the old dog jumped up, and, in so doing, trod on pussy's foot, who +immediately turned round and bit and scratched. Wallace took no sort of +notice of it, clearly thinking that such an exhibition of temper on her +part was beneath his attention. We lived about twenty-five miles from +town, in a very fashionable and wealthy part of the country, which made +it quite a "happy hunting-ground" for the London burglars, regular +gangs of whom used to come down and "work" the district, in fact, ours +was almost the only house that was not broken into, and this was +entirely owing to Wallace,--his sonorous bark effectually rousing +everyone, and he never used it without occasion. We caught three men +with a most beautiful set of burglars' tools. They had intended to try +the house; Wallace roused us by barking, and as he seemed nearly +frantic, we felt sure that the men were near, so, turning out the +men-servants, we loosed the dog in the garden. He soon picked up the +scent of the men, and quickly ran into them in an outhouse about two +miles off. Numberless were the attempts made to poison him, but he +would never touch the stuff, however cunningly prepared. We constantly +found poisoned liver, and things of that kind, but it was of no +use--Wallace would sniff at the stuff, give it a scratch with his paw, +and pass on. There was one very amusing trait in his character, and +that was his determination that no one should bathe if he could help +it. This came, I think, from his having, on one occasion, brought a +child out of a pond into which it had fallen. By the way, he did not do +it at all in the graceful way dogs are represented in goody-books, but +by a firm nip in a very unromantic part of the child's body, making it +roar out lustily, thereby preventing the bystanders from being at all +uneasy on its account. + +An amusing instance of this occurred one day. A young cousin of mine +was staying with us and said he should go down to the river and +bathe--asking at the same time to take Wallace with him. I consented, +quite forgetting his habit. The two were away some time, but at length +I saw them returning, the lad evidently in a very bad temper about +something. When he came up he said "that abominable old fool Wallace +won't let me bathe;" I asked about it and heard that Wallace sat down +and watched him undress, in a very grave sort of way, but when he +wanted to get into the river would not let him; walking in front of him +whenever he got near the edge and completely preventing him from +getting in. The boy tried all sorts of dodges to make the dog allow +him, but it was of no use. He tried to run and jump in several times, +but on each attempt Wallace coolly sat down in front of him just as he +thought all was clear, so that he was obliged either to stop short or +tumble over the dog. When he gave it up and began to dress again, +Wallace lay down and watched him, and finally trotted back with him, +with an expression on his countenance that showed he clearly thought he +had done his duty. + +I had been warned by the man I bought Wallace from, as previously +noted, that I must never go near him when he was feeding, for he would +not allow anyone to approach him then, and this I found to be true; but +this habit of his caused me great alarm once. A little girl was staying +in our house, and, of course, wanted to see my big dog, so I took her +out to the stable yard to show him to her. Wallace was feeding when we +got there, and I told her we must not go near him then, and took her +into the stables to see the horses. Whilst I was talking to the +coachman, she slipped out, and on going to look for her, to my horror I +saw her just going up to the dog who was still feeding. I called out to +her to come back, but the coachman said, "He won't hurt her, sir; he +will let a child do anything almost to him." True enough--the child +went up and patted him, and the dog first looked up, gave a wag with +his tail and went on feeding. When he was loosed afterwards, he came to +where the child and myself were sitting, licked her hands, and then +came and put his great head on my knee and looked up at me, as much as +to say, "Could not you trust me with a child." I then remembered I had +been told he would never touch a child, but there was one very curious +point connected with this, which was that he would _never_ touch food +of any sort, however fond he was of it, from the hands of a child. This +he had doubtless been taught, so that poisoned or prepared food might +not be given him by their means. + +I hardly ever saw a dog who had such very expressive eyes. Once when +out with me he was attacked and bitten in the leg by a mastiff; an +ill-conditioned brute that was always flying at him. Now Wallace was +most good-tempered and hardly ever fought, so I spoke to him and told +him to come along, thinking the mastiff would leave him. Instead of +this it seized him by the ear, and Wallace's ears were always very +tender and painful in the summer; but he never retaliated--only looked +at me in a sort of reproachful way, as much as to say "see what pain +you have caused me." I could not stand it, and said, "Kill him, +Wallace." Shaking the dog off as if he was nothing, he gave him a grip +between the forelegs and the dog was dead in an instant. Wallace left +him at once and came on after me as if nothing had happened. He +certainly was one of the most intelligent dogs I ever met with; I kept +him until he was very old, and when he was almost entirely blind, it +used to be very curious to see the old fellow hunting me. When loosed, +he would put down his nose and work till he got on my trail, and then, +however I might have gone about and turned, he was sure to hunt up to +me, and the pleased look which came into his old face when he found me +and moved round my legs was very touching. However, poor old fellow, he +got quite deaf as well as blind, and then to my grief I had to sign his +death-warrant. + +Long after this, I possessed a wonderfully intelligent dog, a pure-bred +Skye terrier, one of the real sort, with soft coat of wavy +mustard-coloured hair tipped with black; sharp, prick ears, just turned +over at the top; such taper paws; tail carried over the back and +parting like an ostrich plume; she had dark eyes. I had her directly +she could be taken from her mother, and in my bachelor days she hardly +ever left me, often going in my pocket when I was riding--her head and +forepaws outside. I once left her for six months with some friends +whilst I went abroad, and on my return a most curious thing occurred. I +drove from the station, distant about six miles from my friends' house, +arriving there past nine in the evening. Fanny (that was her name) was +shut up in the harness-room, but about four o'clock the next morning I +was awakened by scratching and whining at my door, and on getting up +and opening it, there was Fanny, who was exceptionally delighted to see +me, and jumped on my bed and went to sleep. On getting up I noticed her +paws were very sore and bleeding, and on going down, asked where she +had been and how she had found me. It turned out thus: she had been +locked up in the harness-room as usual, and this was quite 200 yards +from the house; but had set to work, and scratched her way out, tearing +a hole through the weather boarding close to the doorpost; she then +came round to a court at the back of the house, where there was a +drain-pipe in one corner through the wall, to carry off the water when +it was wasted; this she had torn at until she made the hole big enough +to force her little body through, and getting into the house by an +unfastened side door, made her way up to my room. But how on earth +could she possibly have known that I was there? She had not seen me for +six months, and I had not been near the stable, so she could not have +heard my voice, and there was not any coat or wrap of mine left in the +carriage. That she had got into the house by the way I have stated was +quite clear from the state of her paws, and the marks on the stable and +outer court. + +Fanny amused me very much on another occasion. She had been taught to +beg, and I went to the kennel, a paled-in one with benches round it, +and opening the door, began to talk and play with the dogs, +occasionally throwing them some pieces of biscuit. I threw a bit which +one of the spaniels picked up, and jumping on to the bench, began to +eat it. I suppose Fanny fancied the piece very much, for she ran after +the dog, jumped up on the bench in front of him and sat up and begged +for it, just as she would have done had I had it. However, the spaniel +did not pay any attention, but quietly munched up the biscuit. Her +jealousy of my wife, when we were first married, was most amusing. She +could not bear to see us sitting together, and if I sat by my wife on a +sofa, would get upon it, scramble on to my shoulders, walk round the +back of my neck, and try to squeeze herself down between us. She was, +too, a capital sporting dog, though for a long time I was afraid to +take her out, as she was so like a rabbit or hare when moving through +long grass or corn that I feared I might perhaps shoot her +accidentally. However, she was always so very anxious to come with me +that at length I took her, and she was quite invaluable. Birds that +would rise and be off at once, if you had a pointer or setter with you, +appeared either not to notice her or be fascinated by her. I knew +directly I entered a field with her whether there were birds or not, +and she would take me straight to them. She also retrieved beautifully. +The first time I found out her powers in this way I had shot two +partridges, right and left, and to my great disgust both were runners +and got into some standing corn. Fanny seemed very anxious to go after +them, so I let her go after one that I had marked down, and off she +scampered, and to my great delight and surprise soon came back with it. +On my taking it from her, she darted off again and in a little while +returned with the other. After this, of course, I always used her for +retrieving, and scarcely ever lost a wounded head of game. She could +bring partridges and pheasants in open ground, but if they fell in +thick cover, or if I sent her after a wounded hare, she could not bring +them back, but used to make a short, sharp bark to let me know she had +found them. Poor little thing, she met, I fear, the fate of too many +pets. We went from home leaving strict injunctions that every care +should be taken of her; but, unfortunately, she sickened and died, I +fear, of neglect. + +And now I must tell a most wonderful piece of kindness and compassion +on the part of another dog. At the time Fanny and her brothers and +sisters were born, I had a fine black and white pointer dog. When Fanny +and the rest were a few weeks old, their mother died, and they had to +be brought up by hand, and though every care was taken of them, and +they had warm sheepskin rugs on their bench, they seemed very miserable +and were always crying. Whenever I went round their kennel I usually +found this pointer dog sitting there looking at them through the +palings, and I said one day to the keeper, "I suppose Don would like to +kill them all for making such a noise." "Oh no, sir," said the man; "he +pities them quite Christian-like." "Well," I replied, "if he does, just +open the kennel door and see what he will do." It was opened and the +dog ran in and began licking the puppies, who crowded round him. He +then jumped up on the bench, followed by them, and lay down; the +puppies crawled all over him, biting his ears and tail, evidently +greatly delighted to have him, and finally settled to sleep in all +positions on him, the dog never moving, and seemed almost afraid to +breathe for fear of disturbing them--in fact, he took them entirely +under his protection, and the contorted attitudes the dog would lie in +rather than disturb the puppies were wonderful. I used to think he must +hurt himself; but he would never leave them, and if I got him out for a +little while, thinking he must want rest, he would always run back to +them, never seeming happy until he had got in with them again. This +continued until they were all grown big enough to take care of +themselves. It has always struck me as being the most wonderful piece +of pure benevolence I ever knew of. + +I once knew a very eccentric dog. He was a real old English spaniel, +one of that kind you so rarely see, with long body, short legs, with +great bone, grand head, jaws and teeth like a wolf's almost, and long +ears that would meet round his nose. Poor fellow, his temper was +certainly unamiable, but I think this was caused by the state of his +health. When he was a puppy he was troubled with insects, and a stupid +groom, to show, I suppose, that he had some brains, declared he could +cure him with some nostrum of his own; the effect of it being that the +poor puppy's hair nearly all came off. His skin was burned in several +places, and he was made so ill that for several weeks a veterinary +surgeon did not think he could recover. He did though, at length, but +his constitution had received such a shock that he was always subject +to skin disease, and yet he could not stand the least medicine. He was +a very curious animal, never showing much attachment to anyone; he +would bite his best friends on the least provocation. Nothing, though, +offended him so much as being laughed at,--that was an insult he never +forgave. If you began to laugh at him, he would growl in a very ominous +manner, and, if you persisted in it, would snap at you and give you +such a bite, that you would not care to try again. If you wished to +please him, you had to get a lot of old birds' nests, and give them to +him one by one; he would carry them about for some time, and then he +would sit down and tear them to pieces. He was not particularly fond of +going for a walk with anyone; but if you got some nests and gave him +one occasionally, he would trot along with you as happily as possible. +Another curious habit of his was, that he would never get out of the +way for anyone. When he was trotting along he never moved from his line +if he saw anyone coming; but if he saw they did not intend to move, +would begin to growl and look so savage that people usually made haste +out of his way. When he happened to be running down a hill, he did not +growl, but merely ran against people if they did not clear out--his +great weight usually upsetting them, of which he took not the slightest +notice. A great friendship arose between this dog and a fine cat we +had, and it was very amusing to see them together. He would walk up to +the cat and begin to lick her all over, and then she would rub all +round him, purring, and seeming to be very fond of him--when all of a +sudden she would stop, look up in his face and spit at him, at the same +time giving him two or three sharp scratches, the only notice of which +that he took was to close his eyes, so that they might not be hurt. +Poor dog, as I said before, he suffered from skin disease, and the +medicine that you could give another dog with impunity would nearly +kill him, and it was the same with any outward application. At length +when, on one occasion, he was suffering very much, I took him to the +huntsman of a pack of foxhounds, and asked if he could recommend +anything, and he told me of some stuff he dressed the puppies with, +that never hurt them, and gave me some. I had it applied to some other +dogs, and it did not do them the least harm, so I ordered this dog to +be dressed with it. It did not seem to affect him at first, but on the +next morning he was found dead in his kennel. In spite of his unamiable +character, which I put down to his bad health, I was very sorry to lose +him, for he had more regard for me, I think, than almost anyone, and +was a first-class dog for cover shooting, with me at least, for he +would not pay any attention out shooting to anyone else. + +I have met with two cases of decided idiocy in dogs--one occurred fully +thirty years ago. It was just about the time that Pomeranian dogs were +first brought into England. An old lady saw several of them abroad, +and, admiring them very much, brought several home and gave them away +as presents to her friends. She gave one to an uncle of mine; it was a +white one, with a splendid coat, and altogether looked a model of the +breed, and everyone who saw it remarked on its beauty; it had, however, +very curious-looking blue eyes, and its habits were very strange. It +would lie curled up on the hearth-rug in the dining-room the whole day, +taking no notice of anyone or anything, except twice a day, when +regularly, about half-past eleven in the morning and at four in the +afternoon, it would get up, and, if the French windows were open, would +go out on to the lawn. If they were closed, it waited till the door was +opened, and then going out, went each day to the same exact spot, and +commenced running round and round in a circle from right to left. +Having done this for some minutes, he would stop, rear up on his hind +legs, and giving his head a most peculiar twist, much like the way +parrots and owls twist their necks, he would then drop down again, and +run the circle from left to right. Having done this, he came indoors, +and lay down on the rug. He never showed the least affection for +anyone, or appeared to know them. If you called out to him, he would +sometimes look up in a vague sort of way, as if he wondered what the +noise was; and the foot-man had to lead him out to meals each day, as +the dog never made the least attempt to stir in search of food. The man +used to say he had more trouble to make this dog feed than to keep any +others from devouring whatever they could get at. Altogether, the dog +did not seem to have the least sense in the world, and was, I think, an +undoubted idiot. + +The second case of the sort I met with was in a large sort of retriever +that a friend of mine had. He asked me to come and see a dog that had +been given him, as it was a "very odd sort of beast," and so it was. It +had the most curious coat I ever saw on a dog--very long and iron-grey, +with black markings, a huge bushy tail, so big and so long that it gave +one the idea that the dog's hind legs were in the wrong place, and, +instead of being at the extremity of its body, were put on somewhere +about the middle of its stomach. To add to everything, the dog +squinted, a thing I never heard of or saw in any other dog before or +since. It was not that one of the eyes was blind and did not move +properly, but the eyes actually crossed one another; his head, too, was +the shape of a solid parallelogram, and very narrow between the ears. +The dog was fastened to a kennel, and was walking backwards and +forwards in front of it, very much in the way a caged hyena does. On +being loosed, it bundled off in a clumsy gallop, and soon ran right +into a barrow that had been left on one of the paths. On being brought +up by this obstacle, instead of jumping over it, as any other dog would +have done, he moved round it, and when he found his head clear, +galloped off again on the same straight line, which this time landed +him in a laurel bush, through which he scrambled, and again went on in +the same direction, and this I heard was his regular habit. He had +another very awkward trick, and that was, if he was walking behind you, +he would come up and lay hold of your leg, not apparently with any +vicious design, for if you stopped and looked down at him, there he was +with his eyes half shut, holding on to your leg with his teeth, as if +it was necessary to support himself by such means. After a time he +would drop his jaws off your leg and go maundering along as he had done +before; but it was not altogether a pleasant trick. My last interview +with the brute was not an agreeable one. We were to go out duck +shooting on the river, and my friend proposed taking the dog with us in +the punt to retrieve the ducks. This I decidedly objected to, as a wet +dog in a boat is an unpleasant companion, so he was left on the bank to +follow as best he might. The dog trotted along quietly for some way, +until at length we fired at some ducks, when he jumped into the river +to get them, as we thought; instead of which he swam up to the punt and +seizing the pole in his mouth began to bite and tear at it in the most +furious way. He then tried to scramble into the boat, and getting his +fore-paws on the gunwale, began to tear at the sides in the most +determined manner, snapping furiously at anyone who went near him. The +only thing we could do was to try and duck him by means of the punt +pole, but directly he came up again he attacked the boat afresh, so +that my friend thought the best thing to do was to shoot him, which +accordingly was done. I shall never forget the expression of ferocity +in the dog's face or the mad way in which he tore at the sides of the +boat and the punt pole. + +The dog I am now about to mention was, I consider, an instance of the +action of over-instruction working on naturally weak powers. When out +shooting at the Cape, in the Swehamsdam district, something in the bush +attracted my notice, and on riding up I found it was a pointer in the +last stage of starvation. Pitying the poor deserted animal, I told one +of my attendants to take it up and bring it to the waggon, which he +did, and after forcing some broth down its throat, the dog seemed to +revive, and with care it ultimately recovered, and turned out a very +handsome animal. When it had got up its strength again, I took it out +to try it. The dog ranged fairly and soon got on the scent of game, as +I imagined. Seeing him drawing on very fast, I though he had got a +Korhoram in front of him, and as these birds run tremendously, I made a +circle to head the supposed game; but on looking back at the dog, saw +he was standing dead at a small bush. I went back to him and tried all +round it in every direction, but in vain. I then looked on the ground +to see if there was one of the small land tortoises, which abound +there, and which dogs will always point, but found there was not; so +dismounting, I went up to the bush and then found he was standing at a +small striped mouse, so I scolded him and made him come off. His next +exploit was to make a splendid point at a pair of cast-off Hottentot +"crackers" which were lying in the bush, bringing up in his gallop in +really magnificent style. On rating him for this, he fixed all his +attention on me, and though he ranged well, kept his eye whenever +possible on me, and if I stopped pointed at once, or even if I held out +my arm. His last grand feat was a dead point at something that I +thought was a piece of dead stick lying on the ground, and I was just +on the point of taking it up to give him a cut with it for being such a +fool when I discovered that it was a puff adder; so calling the dog +off, I blew it to pieces with a shot, but my escape was a narrow one. +After this, I gave the dog away to a lady who took a fancy to him, as +he was so handsome, and it was most ludicrous to see him in her +drawing-room pointing steadily at footstools or work-boxes, or anything +that was shewn him. The dog had evidently been well broken, but its +brain could not take the impression that he was only to point at game. +He had a confused idea that he ought to point at anything with a scent +to it, or anything he imagined his master wished him to. + + + + +NOVEMBER SHOOTING + + +Nearly three months have already passed away since the shooting season +began. I won't say the three best months, because snipe and woodcock +are coming in, and the cream of the pheasant shooting is yet to come. + +For myself, much as I like knocking over grouse and partridges, give me +snipe shooting before all. It is the _fox-hunting of shooting_. + +I know of nothing more exciting than getting on to a good snipe bog, +when they lay well and there are plenty of them. When they rise in +_whisps_, that is, several at a time, you may make up your mind they +are wild and difficult to approach. In snipe shooting always have the +_wind on your back_. + +The snipe ever flies against the wind; therefore you have a much better +shot than you would have if he were to dart away down wind. + +If you take a dog, let it be a cautious, knowing old pointer or setter; +the latter is the animal for this sport, because he stands the cold and +water better than the thin-skinned pointer; but I rarely take any dog +but my retriever. + +As regards your dress, you are almost sure to get wet; therefore I +never think of putting on long waterproof boots; they are heavy and +tiring to walk in; and if you do get in over them, you are obliged to +turn yourself up to let the water out; but your misery does not end +here, the wet generally brings your worsted stockings down at heel, and +your heavy saturated boots rub the skin of your heels, or ankle bones, +which cripples you for days. + +Put on a pair of thick worsted stockings, and a pair of your oldest and +easiest lace-up boots; if there is a hole or two in them so much the +better, they will let the water out all the quicker. + +I never use gaiters, they only get wet and make you cold and +uncomfortable. I wear a pair of old trousers; but generally shoot in +nothing but knickerbockers and stockings. + +If you have a long way to drive home, a change of stockings and +trousers is advisable, and instead of shoes or slippers, I put on a +pair of sabots and chaussettes: these can be procured at any French +depôt. They are most comfortable and warm, and no trouble to put on. + +If you are shooting on heath, brown should be the colour of your dress; +this, indeed, is the best colour for all work. + +Many places that were famous for snipe when I was a lad, are now +drained or built on. And a few years hence the snipe and woodcock will +be rare birds with us. There is still a land within easy reach where +they are to be found--Ireland--and there I go every year for a couple +of months, to a very wild part of the country, certainly, and where you +must rough it; but still I enjoy it intensely: and when I am sitting by +my turf fire, with my glass of potheen beside me, my old black clay +between my lips, and my tired setters stretched at their ease by my +feet, I feel thoroughly happy. + +There is one thing I always take with me on these Irish excursions, and +that is a comfortable arm-chair. I have had it carried eleven miles +over the mountains for me, to the cabin or farm, or wherever I may be. +This is the only luxury I allow myself. + +If you go farther afield than Ireland, and are in for nothing but snipe +shooting, then be off to America; South Carolina is your mark, and +where you may blaze away to your heart's content. + +The woodcock flies exactly the same as the snipe; but it is not +necessary to be particular about the wind in his case. In beating large +covers or forests, never go far in, but try the edges. These birds are +also getting much scarcer, for they now take the eggs in Norway and +Sweden, and eat them as we do plovers' eggs. + +In looking for woodcock in cold, wet weather, if you do not find them +in their usual haunts, try the _sunny_ side of the wood or hill, where +it is sheltered from the wind; they are remarkably fond of being where +there are holly bushes. + +In shooting forests or large covers use spaniels; but these dogs must +be _perfectly_ broken and never go out of gun range. It is a very +common practice in France to have bells round their dogs' necks, so +that you may know where they are; but I do not like it, it frightens +the birds; and there is danger attached to it. The dogs are sometimes +hung up by the collars. I once remember a very good dog, belonging to a +friend of mine, being killed in this way--he was hung up in some thick +underwood, and when we found him, he was dead. No hunting dog should +ever wear a collar when out, under any circumstances. + +November shooting is good shooting, and coverts should not, as a rule, +be beaten before then, as the leaves are not off enough; a quantity of +game is wounded and never found, and is left to linger and die. In +November, too, the walking is much better; it is cooler and the scent +lies stronger; birds may be wilder but they are in finer condition, and +remain so till the frosts come; but even then, unless it is very hard, +they keep their condition. It is snow that destroys all birds' +condition. A few days' snow, and birds not only fall miserably away, +but they get much tamer, and immense numbers are killed by poachers, as +well as rabbits and hares, which are easily tracked; and as they are +not able to go at any pace, a dog with a very moderate turn of speed +will run into them. + +The best bit of shooting I ever had was a forest in France which I +hired; it was five thousand acres, famous bottom covert in it, and +noted for woodcock; there was a capital shooting lodge, furnished, four +large bed-rooms, two sitting-rooms, kitchen, back-kitchen, wood-houses, +&c.; cow-house, piggery, stable for fourteen or fifteen horses, orchard +of three acres, kitchen-garden, and small field, a gamekeeper's house, +and dog-kennel; in fact, as a shooting-box it was complete; for all +this I paid four hundred francs a year (£16). + +The house stood in the centre of the forest; there was a good road to +it, and there was a village a mile off at which you could get anything. +I had it for some years, and I never enjoyed covert shooting so much; +there was fine partridge ground all round the forest, which I had leave +to go over; part of it was mine. There were a few roebuck in the +forest, foxes, and plenty of badgers; with these last we occasionally +had great fun. There was some very fair trout fishing, as well as duck +shooting, any quantity of rabbits; and I never went out without +bringing home a hare or two; there were quail in the season, and snipe +too, and the woodcock shooting was capital. + +For a few days in November, thousands and thousands of wood pigeons +made their appearance, and were very tame from a long flight; these +were killed in great numbers. When they first arrived they were +miserably poor, but after a few days they picked up, and were difficult +to get at. I never enjoyed anything more than this bit of rough +shooting; everything was so convenient and comfortable; by the bright +wood fire of an evening we used to smoke, tell our stories, and spin +our yarns. + +The game I killed, even at the small price it fetched, paid the rent +and my English keeper. I do not mean to say I sold it, but I exchanged +it away for other things wanted in the house. + +November, although one of the dreariest months of the year, is one of +the best shooting months--certainly for general rough shooting. + +I have had capital sport in Ireland in this month, especially with the +woodcock on the mountains, as well as with duck and snipe. I always +carried there a ten-bore gun, because I never knew what would get up, +as most of my shooting lay on the borders of Lough Corrib; sometimes a +duck or a goose would give me a shot, so I found a large gun better. +The golden plover are capital fun in November. I once killed twenty-one +at one shot. I was coming down Lough Corrib in my yacht, and discovered +an immense number of plover on one of the small stony flat islands. I +got the dingy out, and was sculled quietly down by one of the men. I +got within forty yards of them, when they rose, and I gave them both +barrels of No. 6 shot. I picked up one-and-twenty, but I think there +were one or two more I could not find. I have had very good +duck-shooting on the lake, in November, which is twenty-eight miles +long, and in one place ten miles wide. My shooting yacht was one of the +most comfortable ones I ever saw, only ten tons; but there was every +convenience in it and plenty of room. I used to go away for a week, and +the quantities of snipe, cock, and wild fowl I brought back astonished +the natives. I would run up some little creek or river of an evening +and anchor occasionally; we cooked on shore when the weather was fine; +we set the night lines, and had always plenty of pike, trout, and eels, +and in summer any quantity of perch, from three-quarters to three +pounds weight each. + +I am very fond of wild pheasant shooting in November; the birds are +then strong, in good plumage, and worth killing. + +Rabbiting, either shooting or ferreting, is capital sport; by November +the fern and under cover are generally dead, and you can see the little +grey rascals scudding along. + +For some years I, in cover shooting,--in fact, all my shooting, have +used nothing but Schultze's wood powder; perhaps it may not be quite so +strong as the ordinary powder, but I am by no means assured of that; it +is quite strong enough for any purpose, and has these advantages over +the ordinary powder: + +There is not nearly so much recoil, and in a heavy day's shooting you +do not give up with your head spinning and your shoulder tender. + +The report is not so loud either. + +The company say, "It shoots with greater force and precision;" this may +or may not be; but I am satisfied of this that it shoots _well_, and +certainly does not soil the gun nearly so much as other powders. + +But there is one thing that alone recommends it to me; that is, the +smoke never hangs, and you can always use your second barrel. How often +in covert shooting, or in the open, on a mild or foggy day, when there +has been no breeze, has the smoke hung, and prevented you putting in +your second barrel? Hundreds of times to me! But with Schultze's powder +there is only a thin white smoke, which is no detriment or blind to the +shooter. And there is also another great advantage it possesses, if it +gets damp it can be dried without losing any of its strength. It suits +all guns and climates. + + + + +SPORTING ADVENTURES OF CHARLES CARRINGTON, ESQ. + +RECORDED BY "OLD CALABAR" + + +Reader, must I confess it? I am a Cockney, born and bred in the "little +village." Though I passed some eight or ten years in a Government +office, yet my heart was not in the work. I had frequent illnesses, +which kept me away; those days--must I own it?--were generally spent in +a punt at Weybridge with one of the Keens. At Walton or Halliford I was +great in a Thames punt; and I then imagined few could hold a candle to +me in a gudgeon or roach swim; that I was _the_ fisherman of England, +_par excellence_. I am wiser now. + +At last my absences from office were so frequent that I had quiet +intimation to go; but, having friends who were pretty high in office, I +got an annuity in the shape of ninety pounds a year. A fresh berth was +procured for me at four hundred per annum, where I had a good deal of +running about. This suited me much better, as it enabled me to indulge +in my proclivities. I now took to shooting, and rather gave fishing the +go-by. + +I believe I tormented every gunmaker in the West End to death. I was +continually chopping and changing, inventing fresh heel-plates to the +"stocks." I would have a thick one of horn for a thin coat, and a thin +one of metal for a thick coat. Then I had them made with springs to +diminish the recoil. I was laughed at by every one who knew anything +about the matter; but I was so eaten up by self-conceit that I imagined +no one was _au fait_ at guns but myself, and would take no advice. My +shooting was not what a sportsman would call "good form"; but this I +did not believe. + +"Dash it, Muster Carrington," said an old Somersetshire farmer to me +one day; "always a-firing into the brown on 'em, and mizzing the lot. +It can't be the gun, or because you wear gig-lamps. You're no shot, +zur, and never will be;" but I laughed at the old fellow's ignorance. +Rather rich that. I, with one of Grant's best guns, not a +shot--rubbish! But I determined I would make myself a shot; so I went +over to Ireland to an old friend of mine, who lived in a wild, remote +part of Galway. He was a first-class sportsman in every way; took great +pains with me, and taught me a good deal. I learnt to ride to hounds +with him, not well certainly, but in my vanity I soon imagined I not +only rode, but shot better than my instructor. One day, after shooting +at twenty-three snipes, and only killing one, and the next missing +thirteen rabbits turned out from the keeper's pockets, I was fain to +admit I was not the shot I thought myself; so I betook myself back to +London--a sadder, but not a wiser man. I then entered one of the pigeon +clubs. Pigeon club? it was one. I won't say anything about that. If I +had gone on with it I should soon have had pockets to let. I was +terribly laughed at by every one, for I could neither shoot nor make +anything by betting. + +I then determined to try hunting, and wrote to my old friend in Ireland +to procure me a couple of horses. This he did, and sent me a couple of +good ones. I enjoyed the hunting more than I did the shooting, because +I could ride a little, and got on better. + +Sending my horses down to the country one fine morning, the next I +followed them to ----, where I had taken a little box for the season. +Many were my mishaps during the few months I was there, which was not +to be wondered at. + +I was in the famous run I am about to relate, and one of the +unfortunate victims who came to grief on that occasion. + +In the county of Croppershire, and not far from the little post town of +Craneford, a pack of fox-hounds was kennelled: they were under the +joint mastership of two gentlemen, Samuel Head, Esq., commonly called +Soft Head, and Henry Over, Esq., who was usually designated Hi Over; +the secretary was George Heels: he went by the name of Greasy Heels. + +A local wag had nicknamed it the "Head-over-heels Hunt;" but another +aristocratic gentleman and a public-school man said that a much more +_distingué_ and appropriate title would be the classical one of the +_Sternum-super-caput_ Hunt. This it was ever afterwards called; and +certainly no hunt deserved the name better, for hardly a man amongst +the whole lot could ride; they were ever being _grassed_, or "coming to +grief." + +Men from the next county used to say to each other, "Old fellow, I am +in for a lark to-morrow. I'm going to see the 'Sternum' dogs;" or, "I +am going to drive the ladies over next week, when the Sternum hounds +meet at the cross-roads; they want a laugh, and to see a few falls." + +The huntsman to these hounds was John Slowman. He was not a brilliant +huntsman, but he could ride; he had no voice; could not blow the horn +well, which was, perhaps, a lucky thing. + +Somehow or other the Sternum hounds generally killed, and had a great +many more noses nailed to their kennel-door than most of the +neighbouring packs. The great secret of their success was that the +hounds were _let alone_; they never looked for halloas or lifting, +and if they did they very seldom got it. They were great lumbering, +throaty, slack-loined, flat-sided animals; but they could hunt if let +alone, and often carried a good head, and went along at a pretty good +bat too; and as they had but few men who rode up to them, they were not +as a rule pressed or over-ridden. + +The Sternum gentlemen were great at roads, though now and then they +would take it into their heads to ride like mad, especially when there +was anyone from a neighbouring hunt to watch their proceedings. Then +there were riderless horses in all directions, for the country was a +stiff one, and took a deal of doing. + +"Ah, gentlemen," Slowman would exclaim, as the field came thundering up +ten minutes after a fox had been broken up, "you should have been here +a little sooner; you should indeed. Mag--nificent from find to finish. +Don't talk to me of the Dook's, or the Belvoir, or the Pytchley either, +nor none of them hunts as have three packs to keep 'em agoing. Give me +two days a week, and such a lot of dogs as these. I dessay the Markis +will make a huntsman in time. Frank Gillard ain't a bad man, and +Captain Anstruther is pretty tidy; but there's too much hollerin', too +much horn, too much lifting and flashing over the line. They mobs their +foxes to death; I kills mine." + +Slowman was magnificent at these times, and felt more than gratified +when compliments were showered on him on all sides. + +"Right you are, Slowman." "You know how to do the trick, old fellow." +"Best huntsman in Europe." "There's half-a-sovereign to drink my +health." + +Then Slowman would collect his hounds, nod to the whips, and return +home a proud and happy man. + +The Sternum hounds hunted a week later than their neighbours, and at +the two meets that took place during that period they generally had +large fields, and always on the last day of the season, because Messrs. +Head and Over gave a grand breakfast. + +On the occasion I am about to speak of, the last day of the season, a +breakfast was to be given of more than usual magnificence. The hounds +had had a good season, and the masters determined that they would be +even more lavish than usual. + +Great were the preparations made when it was known that the +neighbouring hunts were coming in force to see them, and have one more +gallop before they put their beloved pinks away in lavender. + +Slowman, the huntsman, the evening before the eventful day, had gone +through the kennels, made his draft for the following morning, looked +to the stables, and given orders about the horses and other little +matters pertaining to his craft. + +He was seated by his cosy fire, and in a cosy arm-chair, puffing +meditatively at a churchwarden, and now and then taking a sip from a +glass of hot gin-and-water that stood at his elbow. "Bell's Life" was +at his feet, and before the fire lay a couple of varmint-looking +fox-terriers. Slowman was thoroughly enjoying himself, and wondering if +the six-acred oak spinny which they were to draw first the next morning +would hold a good stout fox. + +"John," said his wife, bustling into the room, "Captain Martaingail +wishes to know if he can see you an instant: he is on his horse at the +door." + +"Lord bless me, Mary! surely," sticking his feet into his slippers and +rushing to the front door. The Captain was a favourite of his. The gin +he was drinking was a present to him from the Captain; the "Bell's +Life" was the Captain's. The Captain always came of a Sunday for a chat +and look through the kennels; and the Captain was one of the very few +of the hunt who could ride. He always gave Slowman a fiver at the end +of the season, and many good tips besides; so he was a prime favourite +with the huntsman. + +"Good evening, good evening, Captain," said Slowman, going to the door. +"Come in, sir. Here, Thumas--Bill--Jim--some of you come here and take +the Captain's horse. Throw a couple of rugs over him and put him in the +four-stall stable, take his bridle off, and give him a feed of corn." + +"Now, sir, come in," as the Captain descended from his hack and gave it +to one of the lads. "I was just having a smoke, sir, and a glass of +gin-and-water--your gin, sir; and good it is, too." + +"That's right, Slowman. And I don't care if I take one with you. It's +devilish cold, but no frost. I want to have a talk with you about +to-morrow." + +Taking the arm-chair, he mixed himself a glass of liquor, and lit a +cigar. + +"Slowman," he commenced, "there's the devil's own lot of people coming +to-morrow. There's Jack Spraggon, from Lord Scamperdale's hunt. He's +sent on Daddy Longlegs, his Lordship's best horse, and another; so _he_ +means going. Jealous devil he is, too. Soapy Sponge will be here with +Hercules and Multum in Parvo; old Jawleyford, and a host of others of +that lot. Then there's Lord Wildrace, Sir Harry Clearall, and God knows +who besides. There's more than forty horses in Craneford now--every +stall and stable engaged; and there will be twice as many in the +morning. + +"Ah! sir, it's the breakfast as brings 'em--at least, a great many of +'em." + +"Well, I daresay that has something to do with it," replied the +Captain; "but a great many come to have a laugh at us. The fact is, +most of our men can't ride a d----. Then look at Head and Over, they +are always coming to grief and falling off. No wonder they get laughed +at. And most of the others, too. There will be no end of ladies out, +too, and all to have a grin at us. Oh! by-the-way, Slowman, here is +your tip. I may just as well give it to you to-night as later. I've +made it ten instead of five this year, because you've shewn us such +prime sport." + +"Very much obliged to you, Captain, indeed," thrusting the note into +his pocket; "and for your kind opinion too. I try to show what sport I +can, and always will. So they're coming to have a laugh at us, are +they! I wish we may find a good stout fox, and choke all the jealous +beggars off. I'd give this ten-pound note to do it," slapping his +pocket. + +"It may be done, Slowman," replied the Captain cautiously; "in fact, I +may say I have done it. But you must back me up; and, mind, never a +word." + +"I'm mum, sir. Mum as a gravestone." + +"Well, you see, Slowman, having found out what they are coming for, +I've a pill for them. You draw the six-acre oak spinny first. Well, +there will be a _drag_ from that over the stiffest country to Bolton +Mill. That's eight miles as the crow flies. There, under the lee of a +hedge, will be old Towler with a fresh-caught fox from their own +country. As he hears the hounds coming up he will let him loose. He's +not one of your three-legged ones, but a fresh one, caught only this +afternoon. I've seen him--such a trimmer! He'll lead them straight away +for their own country. And if the strangers, and old Spraggon, and +Jawleyford, and all the rest of them can see it through, they are +better men than I take them to be. I shall have my second horse ready +for me at the mill. And so had you better. I'll take the conceit out of +the beggars." + +"By the living Harry!" exclaimed the huntsman, "a grand idea. I must +draft Conqueror, Madcap, and Rasselas. They are dead on drags. But, +Captain, if the governors twig it?" + +"Not a bit, Slowman. They, as you know, won't go four miles." + +"Yes, sir, yes. I know all that. But if they should twig? They have the +coin, you know." The huntsman had his eye to the main chance. + +"But they will not, Slowman. Now, I will tell you a secret; but, mind, +it's between ourselves. Honour, you know." + +"Honour bright, Captain," replied the huntsman, laying his hand on his +heart. + +"Well, then, to-morrow at breakfast, Head and Over will announce their +intention of resigning." + +"No, sir; you don't mean it?" said the huntsman hastily. + +"I do," replied the Captain, "And I am going to take them on, and you +too. I am to be your M.F.H. It's all cut and dried. So you see you +should run no risk. But not a word of this." + +The huntsman sat with his mouth open, and at last uttered, "Dash my +boots and tops, Captain, but you are a trimmer! But," he continued, "if +we find a fox before we come on the drag?" + +"But you will not, Slowman. The cover is mine, and has been well hunted +through to-day, and will be to-morrow morning again. No fox will be +found there." + +The two sat for an hour and more talking and arranging matters, so that +there might be no failure on the morrow. And all having been +satisfactorily arranged, the Captain mounted his horse and rode home. + +The following morning--the last of the season--was all that could be +desired. A grey day with a southerly breeze. It was mild for the time +of year. Great were the preparations at Mr Head's house. He gave the +breakfast one year, Over the next. It was turn and turn about. + +As it was the last breakfast he was to give as an M.F.H., Head +determined it should be a good one. Mrs Head was great before her +massive silver tea set; and she had her daughter on her right to assist +her. + +At the time appointed Lord Wildrace, who had driven over in his mail +phaeton, put in an appearance in his No. 1 pink, closely followed by +Spraggon, who determined to have ample time for his breakfast. Then old +Jawleyford entered, and rushing up to the lady, declared it was too bad +of her not to have come over and seen them. At any rate, they would +come and spend a week with them soon at Jawleyford Court, would they +not? Then Soapy Sponge turned up, looking as smart and spruce as ever. + +We cannot go through the breakfast--or the speech of Mr Head, and the +other by Mr Over, or the regrets of the company on their resigning the +joint mastership, or the cheers on the announcement that Captain +Martaingail had consented to keep them on. + +"Devilish good feed," growled Jack Spraggon to Sponge, who was drawing +on his buckskin gloves. Jack was a little elevated; for he had not +spared the cherry-brandy or the milk punch. + +"It was that," replied his friend. "Feel as if you could ride this +morning, don't you?" + +"Yes, I can--always do; but no chance of it with such dogs as these." + +"Don't know about that," returned Sponge. "They generally find, and +kill too." + +Such a field had been rarely seen with the Sternum hounds--horsemen, +carriages, mounted ladies, all eager. + +"Let the whips be with you, or rather at the outside of the cover, to +keep the people back," whispered Captain Martaingail to the huntsman. +"I will go to the top of the cover when I give the view halloa. You +know what to do." + +"Certain of a fox, I suppose, Martaingail?" asked Lord Wildrace, as +they were smoking their cigars close to the hounds, who were drawn up +on a bit of greensward, giving the ten minutes' law for the late +comers. + +"It has never yet been drawn blank," returned the Captain. "Ah! there +goes Slowman with the hounds. Time's up." + +Cigar ends were now thrown away, girths tightened, stirrup-leathers +shortened or let down. + +The Captain stole into cover, and then galloped away to the far end. + +Presently a ringing tally-ho was heard. + +"Found quickly," growled Jack Spraggon, as he bustled along on Daddy +Longlegs to get a good place. + +"That's your sort, old cock!" ejaculated Sponge, as he dashed past him +on Hercules, throwing a lot of mud on Jack's spectacles from his +horse's hoofs. + +"Oh, you unrighteous snob!--you rusty-booted Cockney!" exclaimed +Spraggon, rubbing at his spectacles with the back of his gloved hand, +thereby daubing the mud all over the glasses, and making it worse. +"Just like you, you docked-tail humbug!" + +Too-too went Slowman's horn. "Give 'em time, gentlemen--give 'em time!" +he screamed, as he took the wattled fence from the spinny into the +fallow beyond. The hounds took up the drag at once, and raced away. + +"Yonder he goes!" exclaimed the captain, pointing with his whip to some +imaginary object, and, digging the latchfords into his horse, was away. + +The first fence was a flight of sheep-hurdles, stretching the whole way +across a large turnip field. Here Jawleyford on his old cob came to +grief, being sent flying right through his ears. + +"Sarve you right!" muttered Spraggon, as Daddy Longlegs took it in his +stride. "You would not do a bit of paper for me last week. May you lie +there for a month!" + +"Pick up the bits," roared Sponge to him as he galloped past, "and lay +in a fresh stock of that famous port of yours." + +But the hounds were carrying too good a head for much chaff. The +gentlemen of the Sternum hunt were riding like mad. Already horses +began to sob; for the pace was a rattler, and the country heavy. The +celebrated Rushpool brook was before them--that brook that so many have +plumbed the depth of. It wants a deal of doing. + +Lord Wildrace charged it, so did Spraggon; but both were in. Sponge, on +Hercules flew over. Slowman and the Captain did it a little lower down. +Head, Over, and a host of others galloped for a ford half a mile away. + +Out of a large field only eight or ten cleared the Rushpool brook. His +lordship and Spraggon were soon out and going; and their horses having +a fine turn of speed enabled them to come up with the hounds again; and +their checking for a few minutes, in consequence of some sheep having +stained the ground, let up the rest of the field on their now nearly +beaten horses. + +"Fastish thing, my Lord, is it not?" said Over to Lord Wildrace, who +was mopping his head with a scarlet silk pocket-handkerchief. + +"Yes," said the nobleman, turning his horse's head to the wind, +"devilish sharp. I'm cold, too. I wish I could see my second horse. I'm +pumped out." + +"Have a nip of brandy, Wildrace," said Captain Martaingail, offering +his silver flask. "Been in the water, I see--and a good many more, +too," casting his eyes on half a score of dripping objects. "It's a +very distressing jump to a horse, is that Rushpool brook. By gad, they +have hit off again!" + +Slowman knew well the line to cast his hounds, and they soon hit it +off, and went racing away again, heads up and sterns down. + +At last Bolton Mill was in sight, and here many got their second +horses, the head grooms from the other hunt having followed the +Captain's, and the joint masters' servants were there already. + +Spraggon was quickly on the back of The Dandy; but he was hardly up +before a view halloa was given in a field below them, and a hat held up +proclaimed their fox was ahead of them. + +"It's all right, Slowman," said Captain Martaingail, as the hounds +feathered on the line and took it up. + +"He's right away across the Tornops," shouted a keeper-looking man +(this was Towler, who had shaken the fox out) as the field came up, +"an' a-going like blue murder." + +The hunting was now not quite so fast, but they got on better terms +with their fox after a little, and settled well to him. + +A good stout fox he was too, and deserved a better fate. He led them +right into his own country, but before he could reach a friendly earth, +seven or eight miles from where he was shook out, the hounds ran into +him in the open. + +Some eight or ten of the field were in at the finish, and others came +up at intervals. + +"Here, gentlemen," exclaimed Slowman triumphantly, to the strangers +from a distance, "this is one of your foxes. I guess we sent him back +to you faster a precious deal than ever you sent him to us. Sorry we've +killed him, though, your dogs want blood, poor things. You've seen what +the Sternum hounds can do now! We're not to be laughed at, are we?" + +This impudent speech had not much effect generally, but several +gentlemen turned away disgusted. + +The run was quoted in every sporting paper; and it was years and years +before people forgot the great Rushpool Brook run, the last of the +season. + +The hounds had achieved a reputation, and Captain Martaingail took care +they should not lose it. He carried the horn himself after he took to +them, Slowman acting as first whip; he drafted most of the hounds, and +got together a fresh pack, that were not only good-looking, but could +go too. But the dogs never lost the name of the "_Sternum-super-caput_" +hounds. + + +Whilst I am on the subject of hunting, I may as well tell you a funny +story which happened to a friend of mine; this took place near London, +and although I did not come so badly off as my friend, yet I was +nowhere at the finish. + +It is of a thorough cockney that I am about to write; of one who made +the City his home; did a little in Stocks and on 'Change: he had done +so well on it that he had four hunters standing not a hundred miles +from the Angel at Islington. Thither he used to go of an evening on the +'bus to his snug little chambers, to which was attached a capital +stable with four loose boxes, and in these four boxes stood four +decentish nags. I don't know that they were reliable fencers, but they +could gallop; they were bang up to the mark--well done, well groomed, +and well clothed. + +Frank Cropper was proud of his horses, and his stud-groom, Dick, was +his right hand in all matters. Dick, though he professed to have a +profound knowledge of horses, in reality knew nothing about them, and +had to thank his strappers for the condition and fettle they were in. + +But Dick was great at getting up leathers and top boots, was extremely +fond of dress, turned out well, and though he could not ride a yard, +led every one to believe he was invincible in the saddle. + +He was grand when he used to dodge about in the lanes after the +Puddleton currant-jelly dogs, riding his master's second horse. Cropper +thought it the correct thing to have out a second horse with the +harriers. No one ever saw Cropper or his man take a fence; they used to +gallop through places or fences that had been smashed by some one +before them, or creep through gaps made in hedges. + +Occasionally he used to honour the Queen's with his presence; there he +did it in grand style, sent his horses down by rail, or drove down in +his cart, with his brown-holland overalls on, covering his boots and +spotless buckskins from the smallest particle of dust or dirt; the +overalls he would have taken off with a grand flourish just before the +hounds moved away, and mounted his horse with the grandest possible +air, telling Dick to ride to points, and to be sure to be handy with +his second horse; but, somehow or other, he never got his second horse; +Dick always mistook the line of country. + +Once or twice Cropper had been known to grace the Epping Forest Hunt on +an Easter Monday; but, somehow or other, Frank did not speak much of +this: why, I know not. + +"Dick," said his master one morning as he sat at breakfast, "the day +after to-morrow is the last of the season--at least, the last day of +any hounds I can get to; so I mean to have a turn with the ---- +staghounds." + +"Do you, sir? I wouldn't if I were you, sir; hate that calf-hunting. +The Queen's ain't up to my ideas of huntin'; no staghounds are; but +these hounds are duffers; the master's a duffer, the huntsman is a +duffer, the whips are duffers, and so are the hounds. No, sir, be +Cardinal Wiseman, and go with the ---- pack." + +"No, Dick, I have made up my mind to see these hounds; it's a certain +find; open the door of the cart and out pops your stag. It's the last +day of the season, and I mean to have a good gallop." + +"Very well, sir. You will go down by rail, I suppose?" + +"Yes, Dick, yes; by rail. You will go on by the eight o'clock train. I +shall follow by the ten." + +"All right, sir." And they separated, the man to look to his stable and +things, the master to do a little on 'Change. + +Frank Cropper went in for a good breakfast on the morning of the last +of the season, took plenty of jumping powder in the shape of Kentish +cherry brandy, and topped it up with some curaçoa. + +"I feel," says Cropper, as he got into the train, and was talking to +some City friends who were bound on the same errand as myself; "I feel, +my boys, that I shall take the lead to-day, and keep it, too. Ha, ha! +What do you think of that? A church would not stop me. Temple Bar I +should take in my stride, if my horse could jump it. I'm chockful of go +this morning; I shall distinguish myself." + +"Or extinguish yourself," remarked one. + +Cigars and an occasional nip at their pocket pistols whiled away the +time till the train arrived at its destination; there, Cropper and +another took a fly, and drove the three miles they had to go. They were +quite determined they would not dirt their boots or spotless leathers +by a three miles' ride; they would appear at the meet as bright as +their No. 1 pinks, Day & Martin, and Probert's paste could make them. + +"There they are!" exclaimed Cropper's friend, as he caught sight of the +hounds drawn up on a small common. "By Jupiter, but there's a lot out! +it's the last day of the season." + +Cropper descended from the fly in all the glories of his ulster coat +and overalls; his horses were there under the charge of spicy-looking +Master Dick. + +The overalls were slipped off, and, with the ulster, consigned to the +driver to leave at the station; and our hero mounted his horse and was +ready for the fray. + +Now, this meet not being far from town, and a large number of the +London division being present, the worthy master, having a proper +regard for his hounds, thought a few jumps might choke off a good many +who would press upon the hounds. So he had the deer uncarted some +three-quarters of a mile from where they were, the van containing him +was backed not very far from a flight of sheep-hurdles, and a double +line of foot people being formed, the door of the cart opened and out +leapt the stag. Looking around him for an instant, he started away at a +quick trot, and then, as the shouting became louder, commenced to +canter, cleared the hurdles, and was away. + +"Lot of these London cads down here to-day," remarked young Lord +Reckless to his friend Sir Henry Careful. "Don't know, 'pon my soul, +what they come here for." + +"For about the same reason you do--to see the hounds, and get a fall or +two." + +"Ah, that's all very fine," retorted his Lordship, "for you to say so. +You never ride at anything, therefore you are pretty safe. I ride at +everything." + +"But never by any chance get over," interrupted the baronet, "except +through your horse's ears." + +What more they said was cut short by the hounds coming up on the line +of the stag, and racing away. + +I got over the hurdles all right, and so did most of the field; but at +the second fence I was down. And I saw Cropper unseated at the same +instant, and his horse galloping wildly away at the third fence. Dick +was shot through his horse's ears into the next field. + +I was rushing about for mine, over my ankles in mud, when I encountered +Frank Cropper and his man Dick in the middle of the slough. + +"Where the deuce is my second horse?" roared Cropper to his servant. "I +thought I told you to ride him to the points." + +"So I was going to, sir; but he stumbled, and unshipped me." + +"Good heavens! what is to be done?" exclaimed Cropper. "I shall lose +the run. Here, you fellows," to a lot of countrymen about, "catch the +horses--half-a-crown each for them." + +But the nags were not so easily caught, and it was half an hour before +they were secured. Both I and Cropper were wet and cold; so, leaving +Dick to go on with the horses by train to London, and get the coats at +the station, Cropper and I started on foot to walk there. He was too +bruised and cold to ride; so was I. + +You may suppose that the remarks we heard going along were not +complimentary: "Two gents in scarlet as has been throwed from their +'orses, and a-stumping of it home," etc. + +At last I was getting nearly beat, and so was my friend, when we espied +a fly coming along the road. In it was seated Warner of the Welsh Harp +at Hendon. Taking pity on us, he gave us a lift, and drove us to the +nearest station, and we reached London in due time. + +This was the last of my hunting experiences. I got disgusted with it, +and sold my horses. Having read flaming accounts from Cook's tourists, +some of whom had been round the world in ninety days, I packed up my +guns and some clothes, and started for America. + +I did not remain long in New York, as I was anxious to commence +shooting. So I was not long in getting to the small town of ----, and, +putting up at the best hotel the place afforded, which was not a very +good one, sent for the landlord. + +"Wall, Britisher, I'm glad to see yeu," commenced the American +Boniface, coolly seating himself on the table, and commencing spitting +at a bluebottle fly on the floor. "So yeu've come here to see our +glorious American Constitootion. Wall, I guess yeu'll be pretty +considerable surprised--tarnation surprised, doggoned if you won't. +We're an almighty nation, we air. Going a-shooting, air yeu? Wall, I +calkerlate we've got more game hereabouts than would fill all London, +and enough ships in our little river the Mississi-pi to tow your little +island across the broad Atlantic--we hev, indeed, stranger. There's +lots of grouse; but nary a buffeler, bar, nor alligater about here. But +I s'pose yeu means to take up yer fixins here in this feather-bed bully +hotel afore yeu makes tracks?" + +I assured him such was my intention. + +"Wall, then, stranger, what will yeu like?--cocktail, mint julip, +brandy smash, or cobbler? I've a few festive cusses in the bar as will +tell yeu all about the shooting. Let's hev a licker-up with them." + +To this I assented, and walked into another room with him, where there +were Yankees of all descriptions. + +I determined to make myself popular, and stood drinks to any amount. + +"Bust my gizzard, but yeu air a ripper!" exclaimed my tall friend. "He +air, ain't he, bully boys?" + +What more they said was drowned in a terrific row which took place at +the other end of the apartment. + +"Hillo!" shouted my tall friend. "Come on, stranger, if yeu want to see +our pertikelur customs of this hemisphere. Bet my boots it's Bully +Larkins and that old 'oss from Calerforney. Go it, my cockeys!" he +screamed out as he mounted on a table, "go it, old coon!" alluding to +one of the combatants; "go it! Billy's a-gaining on yeu, and if yeu +don't look out he'll riz yer har with his bowie knife, gouge yer eye, +and fetch yeu out of yer boots--he will, by----!" + +Such a fearful row I never heard. All were in a state of frenzied +excitement--knives glittered in the hands of many. Whilst all this was +going on I made my way out of the apartment, and locked and bolted +myself in my own. + +In half an hour my landlord came to the door, and knocked for +admission. + +"It's all over, stranger," he said as he entered. "Old Calerforney +carved two of Bully Larkins' fingers off with his bowie, and Larkins +bit off half t'other's nose. I guess he ain't beautiful. They're +festive cusses here, and air always at it. Nary a day passes without a +free fight." + +I need hardly say the next day I took my departure for New York, and +was off to England by the first boat. I had had quite enough of my +American friends and their notions. + +I have given up sporting, as I found I could make no hand at it. I +shoot occasionally for amusement, and fish occasionally, but never lay +down the law as an authority. + + + + +MY FIRST DAY'S FOX-HUNTING + + +But that was six or seven years ago, and I frankly admit that then I +was a very indifferent horseman, although I was in happy ignorance of +the fact--in its integrity. I was quite conscious that I did not ride +very gracefully or over-comfortably, but I always discovered that the +fault was my horse's and not mine. My cousins used to think otherwise, +and I have spent hours at a time in trying to induce them to give up +their opinions on the subject and to adopt mine. I should explain that +my cousins being orphans, and my father being their guardian, they +lived with us as part of our family, and that whenever they rode out +they seemed to think they had a right to insist upon my accompanying +them. I at length got tired of riding out with my fair cousins, and of +hearing them titter as, at their suggestion, we went down steep hills +at full trot (I confess I was never great at trotting down hill), and +so I resolved to take to _hunting_. I had heard that some horses, +though the worst of hacks, made the best of hunters; and I thought that +something of that kind might apply to horsemen also, and that I myself +might shine more in the field than I did on the road. It was the end of +February, and the Coverbury pack were meeting three times a week at +places within easy reach of the Stonington Station. That was jolly! I +could buy a hunter, keep him at Philley's livery-stables, and on +hunting-days send him by train to Stonington, meet him, have a day's +hunting unknown to my cousins, and thus enjoy myself with perfect +freedom. I at once drew a cheque for £50, with which I determined to +buy the best hunter in all Blankshire! I called at Philley's and told +him of my intention, and asked him how much a week he would require to +"board and lodge" my steed when purchased. The man smiled--he seemed to +have a habit of smiling; but seeing from the seriousness of my manner +that I was in earnest, he replied that his charge for keeping the horse +would be thirty shillings a week; and he added that if I wished to buy +a "slapping" hunter he'd got just the horse for my money. "Of course," +said he, "you don't want a pony, but a good tall horse as'll keep you +out of the dirt; and," he added, scanning my figure from top to toe, +"you don't want no cart-horse to carry your weight neither." I admitted +that my ideas on the subject coincided with his exactly, and he at once +called to a stable-boy to bring out Iron Duke. + +"There," said Philley, as the horse was trotted into the yard, "you +might go a day's march and not come across such a hunter as +that--extraordinary animal, I assure you, sir." Not understanding the +points of a horse, I deemed it prudent to indorse all that Iron Duke's +owner chose to say in his praise; and I was thus compelled to +acknowledge that his superior height (over sixteen hands), long legs, +and slender build, gave him an advantage over every other horse I had +seen in my life, as regards carrying a light-weight over a +high-stone-wall country. + +As we stood discussing the merits of the horse I happened to turn +round, and there I saw the stable-boy grinning and "tipping the wink" +to a companion. This aroused my suspicions that all mightn't be right; +so instead of at once buying and paying for the horse, I mustered up +courage to say, "Well, Mr Philley, I like the horse's appearance, but +are his paces as good as his looks? Will you let me try him with the +Coverbury pack to-morrow?" Mr Philley paused, thought a few moments, +and then observed somewhat solemnly, "Iron Duke, you see, sir, is a +very valuable horse, dirt cheap at fifty pounds; in fact, it's giving +him away, it is really, and I shouldn't like anything to happen to a +horse like that whilst he's mine. We don't generally let him out for +hunting; he's too good for most of our customers. But I'll tell yer +what we'll do; we'll let you have him to-morrow for two guineas, and +then (if you have no accident with him, as of course a gentleman like +you won't) you can please yourself whether you have him or not. But if +you _should_ have an accident--of course accidents _will_ happen +sometimes--why, then the horse will be yours and the fifty pounds +mine." These terms seemed fair, and I accepted them, though not before +they had banished my suspicions, and almost induced me to buy and pay +for the horse there and then. + +In the morning I called at Philley's for my hunter, and the boy brought +him out bridled and saddled. As he stood straight in front of me his +tall slim-built figure looked as sharp as a knife. I ventured to +express this idea, but being doubtful as to whether sharpness was a +good point or a bad one, I did so in a manner which might be taken as +in earnest or in jest. The dealer chose to take it in the latter sense, +and after laughing heartily at my "good joke," assured me that I should +find my horse "as clever as a cat." I then attempted to mount, and +after some time (during which the ostler gave me a "leg up" _and over +the other side_) I was successful. The stirrup-straps having been +adjusted, I set out for the station; and in my journey thither I was +conscious that the commanding presence of my horse and the easy +graceful attitude of his rider were fully appreciated by the numerous +passers-by who stopped to stare at us--doubtless in admiration. One +thing, though, nettled me a bit. Just as I got opposite the club, and +was waving my whip to Fitz-Jones, De Brown, and some other fellows who +were standing in the portico, my horse shied at a wheelbarrow, and I +had some difficulty in getting comfortable in the saddle again. I +gently remonstrated with the boy who was wheeling the barrow for not +getting out of my way, when the impudent little scoundrel turned round +and shouted, "Oh, crikey! yer ain't very safe up there! Get inside; +safer inside!" Whereupon the whole of the bystanders, including my +friends of the club, burst out laughing. I, of course, could not +descend from my high horse to chastise the young urchin, and as I +couldn't think of anything smart to say to him, I treated him with the +silent contempt he deserved, and rode on. But still, as I said before, +this nettled me. + +With the exception of this trifling _contretemps_, I arrived safely at +Stonington Wood, the place appointed for the meet. There was a good +muster of ladies and gentlemen on horseback (some ten or fourteen of +the gentlemen in scarlet coats), and a condescending old gentleman with +grey hair, neatly trimmed whiskers, and rosy cheeks, remarked that +there was a "good field," but I couldn't see it. All that I could see +in the shape of a field was a small patch of turnips enclosed with a +stone wall, the remainder of the surrounding country being common and +wood, or, as I afterwards learned to call it, "cover." I soon began to +appreciate my Iron Duke, for I found that he was the tallest horse +there, and his legs seemed as light as an antelope's in comparison with +the legs of the other animals, some of which seemed almost as heavy as +cart-horses'. + +The clock of the village church struck eleven, and three or four of the +men in scarlet began to whip the dogs to make them go into the wood. I +thought it was the proper thing to imitate their example, and seeing +one of the dogs scrambling up the wall I instantly rode up and gave him +what I thought a "lift up behind" with my whip. To my astonishment the +animal, instead of going over into the wood, tumbled down at my feet +and yelped most piteously. Iron Duke, not liking the noise, turned +round suddenly and kicked out, and the hound had an almost miraculous +escape of having his skull cracked. All this happened in less than a +minute, and seemed to cause a "great sensation," for two or three of +the roughest of the men in scarlet were instantly attacked with a fit +of cursing and swearing, of which I took no notice, believing it to be +lavished on the head of the unfortunate hound. But I soon had my +doubts; for one of the gentlemen in scarlet rode up to me, and with +much severity informed me that he could not have his hounds "served in +that way." I protested that it was an accident, and that I thought +"there could be no harm in doing what the others did." With this +explanation he seemed quite satisfied, for he at once left me, and even +smiled as he did so. The dog must have been a young one, for as I +passed two gentlemen who were doubtless discussing puppies in general, +and I suppose him in particular, I overheard one of them say, "He's +evidently green." The dogs having got safely into cover, the ladies and +gentlemen began to ride along the outside of the wood--cover, I +mean--and I did the same, taking care, though, to keep well in the +rear, that I might see what the others did. I kept clear of every one I +could possibly avoid, as I found that the people who hunted at +Stonington indulged in a peculiar kind of slang which I could not well +understand. I had not gone far before I heard a loud laughing in my +rear. I seemed to be familiar with the sound. I turned "about" in the +saddle, and who should I see but my cousins, not twenty yards behind +me! I was inclined to go home, and I should have done so only I saw +that my cousins, besides being attended by Evans in livery, were +accompanied by their old schoolfellow, Miss Trafford, a young lady to +whom I had been introduced at our last county ball. To enjoy her +presence I determined to brave all. I turned my horse round and raised +my hat as much as the tight guard would let me, and in another moment I +was at the mercy of my tormentors. "Ha! ha! ha!" laughed my cousin +Emily; "we saw you stealing out of the garden gate at six o'clock this +morning." "Yes," chimed in Julia, "and with those splendid top-boots +on! You thought to avoid us, did you?" "I say, Adolphus," continued +Emily, "when you hire a horse-box again, and don't want anyone to know, +don't let your name and destination be labelled on it like an +advertisement! Ha! ha! ha!" I was completely sold, and I was obliged to +acknowledge it; and when I heard that my cousins had actually ridden +ten miles to the meet, whilst I had come by train, I felt that I must +do something to retrieve my reputation in the eyes of Miss Trafford. + +The cover was a very large one, and whilst we had been talking all the +people had disappeared. I told the ladies where the dogs were; and +Emily at once came to the conclusion that, if we went round the other +way, which was shorter, we should meet the "field" at "Keeper's Clump." +Acting on this suggestion, we turned back and cantered round to the +other side of the cover. As we did so I felt that field-riding was my +_forte_; it was so much more comfortable than hard road-riding, and I +at once resolved to make hunting my study and only amusement. My +cousins continued to tease me as we went along; but to my delight Miss +Trafford sided with me, thus giving me confirmation of the hope I had +cherished at the ball, that she was not indifferent to the attentions I +then paid her, slight as those attentions necessarily were. + +Our passage of arms was suspended by our arrival at the far end of the +cover, where the field were awaiting, as I was informed, the decision +of the master as to what cover to "draw" next. I wondered whether they +had any artists with them, and what good could come of _drawing_ a +cover with which nearly every one seemed familiar. But this is +parenthetical. A stone wall, about four feet high, separated us from +the rest of the field. + +"What have you lost?" said Emily to me, as my eyes wandered up and down +the wall. + +"Nothing," I replied; "I am looking for the gate." + +"Then you are looking for something you won't find this side a mile and +a half; that's the road--over the wall. Come! give us a lead." + +Here was a pretty state of things! I, who had never in my life been +over anything higher than a mushroom or wider than a gutter, and who +had in my charge three ladies, suddenly required to give them a lead +over a four-feet wall, in presence of the whole field! The perspiration +stood in great drops on my brow, and I would have given any amount if I +could but have sunk into my boots. But I couldn't; and all eyes being +on me (including _her's_) I had no time to say my prayers. I had to +choose at once between disgrace and the chance of being "sent to my +account with all my imperfections on my head." One glance at Miss +Trafford decided me; and I put my horse's head towards the wall and +then my spurs into his sides. When I was within three feet my courage +failed me, and I pulled up; but it was _too late_. Iron Duke had +already risen; and in doing so had nearly rolled me off, first over the +cantle and then the pommel. Ten thousand years rolled over my devoted +head in these few moments, and then all was still--_i.e._, as regards +motion; but my ears were assailed by a deafening cheer--mixed, I must +candidly admit, with some laughter. When I "came to," I discovered that +I was still alive, and still in the saddle, and that my horse was, in +the most matter-of-fact way possible, spanning the wall like a bridge, +fore-legs on one side, hind-legs on the other. I hastily congratulated +myself that things were no worse, and then began to consider what was +the proper step to be taken by a man in my situation. "Pull him back!" +"Job him over!" "Stick to him!" "Get off!" and similar advice came to +me from every quarter. I resolved to act on the "get off" principle; +and with some difficulty I _did_ get off, taking care to be on the +right side. I then endeavoured to pull the horse over with the reins; +but he resisted with all the obstinacy of a costermonger's +donkey--which circumstance seemed to add to the amusement of the field, +for their laughter increased. Growing desperate, I slashed my whip +several times over the animal's neck; at which treatment he kicked and +plunged until, to my great delight, he kicked the wall down! + +"Thank you for your easy lead, my dear cousin Adolphus!" said Emily, as +she and the two other ladies came through the breach in the wall. + +"You're quite welcome," I was about to reply, when I was interrupted by +a coarse-looking lad, whose spindle-like legs were covered with +breeches and gaiters. + +"I say, guv'nur," said he, "you rode your horse over that there wall +about as well as I'd a-rode my mother's clothes-horse over!--do it +again, do!" + +The ladies could not refrain from laughter, in which I made a miserable +attempt at joining them; and then I tried to remount. But this was a +difficult task; for my legs were short, my horse's were long, and his +recent adventure had made him fidgety, and I was at last reduced to the +necessity of accepting an offer from the lad with the spindle legs to +give me a "leg-up." With his assistance (for which I gave him sixpence, +and I have no doubt he threw his bad joke into the bargain) I managed +to scramble into the saddle again. As we rode to the next cover I felt +exceedingly sheepish, and the unfeeling laughter of my cousins, added +to the now cool manner of Miss Trafford, and the quiet grimaces of old +Evans, the groom (who of course kept pretty close to us), made me +desperate, and I was determined to do something to recover my lost +prestige, even if the next day's _Times_ had to record a "Fatal +accident in the hunting-field at Stonington." Emily asked me tauntingly +whether I had "done leaping for to-day?" + +"Not exactly," I replied; "I intend----" + +"Will you take a lead from me?" she interrupted. + +"I'll take any lead that _you_ dare give me," I replied haughtily. + +"Done!" + +And she had no sooner said the word than the fox broke from the cover, +about two hundred yards in front of us, followed in a few moments by +the hounds, so close together that (as I afterwards heard one gentleman +remark to another) you might have covered them with a blanket. Away +they went, and away went we after them. My enthusiasm was raised to the +utmost pitch, and I was determined to stop at nothing. Emily and Julia +kept on my left, a few yards in advance, whilst Miss Trafford, on my +right, kept about the same distance in my rear. The fox, luckily, had +taken the open, and the ladies prophesied a half-hour's run with no +checks. But before ten minutes of it were over, I perceived, about a +hundred yards in front of us, a thick, well-laid quickset hedge, about +four feet high, and as we neared it I thought I saw water glistening on +the other side. There was no escape; my time had come; I was led in +front, and driven in rear; and leap I must. + +"Now for your lead!" cried Emily, waving her whip in the air as she +cleared the fence and the brook beyond it. My horse followed +bravely--and so should I, if I hadn't, by some unfortunate mishap or +other, rolled out of the saddle, and in the midst of my victory fallen +into the brook! As I lay sprawling on my back, and before I had time to +think where I was, I saw the belly of Miss Trafford's horse as he +carried her over the fence, the brook, and me! + +"Stop my horse! stop my horse!" I roared, as I came dripping wet out of +the brook. "Stop my horse!" But I earnestly hoped that no one would +stop him, for this last _contretemps_ had considerably damped my ardour +and cooled my courage; and I thought that if nobody _did_ "stop my +horse," he would eventually find his way to the pound; and his absence +would afford me a decent pretext for going home. To my horror, though, +Iron Duke was brought back by the wretched lad of the spindle legs. "Be +the saddle greased, sir?" said he, wiping it with his nasty dirty +pocket handkerchief. I could have kicked him, and should have done so, +only I thought he might have kicked back, and so I swallowed his +affront, and actually gave him another sixpence. Having learned from +him the road to the station, I was just stealing off when I heard in my +rear the cry of "Tally-ho back!" The fox had come back--doubled, I +mean--and I was forced to join the others and run after him again. But, +fortunately for me, he did not run far before the dogs caught him and +killed him, and then one of the men in scarlet cut off his nice long +tail and gave it to Emily. She actually accepted it, although I am +nearly sure she had never seen the man before in her life! I thought +young ladies ought to accept presents from no gentlemen but their +relatives and accepted suitors; and, besides, I don't believe that this +man _was_ a gentleman, for when I whipped the hound to make him get +over the wall (which, as I have before stated, he most unreasonably +declined to do), this fellow was the loudest in his oaths and curses, +which he showered broadcast on the hound, or my horse, or something--I +have never ascertained what--and in the presence of ladies! Emily said +something about making a hair-brush of the fox's tail (what an absurd +idea! but she always was queer); and as the man cut off the fox's head, +she gave me to understand that that would be mine if I asked for it. I +_did_ ask for it; but for some unaccountable reason or other, I _didn't +get it_. The remainder of the poor fox was thrown to the dogs, who soon +tore him to pieces and ate him. It occurred to my philosophic mind, as +I witnessed this spectacle, that the fox, like me, was a hero; but, +also like me, an unsuccessful one. What a number of men, women, horses, +and dogs to conquer one little fox! These and similar reflections were +soon cut short, for the dogs having finished their lunch, the men and +women began to think about theirs; in fact, Sir John Hausie had invited +them all, including me, to lunch with him at the Manor House, about +half a mile distant. As we journeyed thither I began to feel very +uncomfortable, for my coat, waistcoat, and shirt, although not dirty +(for the water in the brook was clean), were wet through, and, the +warmth of exercise and enthusiasm having subsided, I felt very cold. +When we arrived at Sir John's, I was so stiff with cold that I could +scarcely dismount, which Sir John observing, he came and very kindly +accosted me. He also inquired as to the cause of my fall--spill, he +called it--and offered me the loan of a coat whilst mine was hastily +dried at the kitchen fire. Sir John was an exceedingly pleasant man, +and had a jolly, cheerful, laughing face, and we soon understood each +other. I accepted his proferred loan with many thanks, and then took +Miss Trafford in to lunch. As I sat by her side in the baronet's coat, +and gracefully helped her to sherry, the frost of her manner gradually +thawed; and when we returned to remount we were as jolly as +topers--sand-boys, I mean. I of course assisted her to get into the +saddle; but I was so stiff and so giddy (from the excitement of the +morning) that I very nearly let her down. We were some time without +finding another fox; and as my cousins had gone off with old Evans and +Captain De la Grace, and as Miss Trafford seemed so amiable, I +determined to improve the occasion. We were on the common just outside +Sir John's park, the beauties of which I was very particular in +admiring; and having thus got Miss Trafford to lag behind, I took the +opportunity of unbosoming my heart to her. I got very excited, and my +voice trembled with emotion (or something of that sort), as I made her +a pathetic offer of my heart and hand. I paused (as well as my +excitement would allow me, for it had brought on the hiccups), and she +replied. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was something +about sparing me the pain of a refusal, and about not marrying a man +who couldn't take a fence. I offered to jump the park wall if she would +only listen to my suit. She agreed; and bracing up all my spirits, I +rode full tilt at the wall; and over I went, leaving my horse on the +wrong side! And as I turned an involuntary somersault I thought I heard +sounds like "the receding foot-steps of a cantering horse." (_Note._--This +is a quotation from some lines I afterwards wrote to Miss Trafford.) +There was then a slight break in the thread of my thoughts, and after +that I found myself lying in the midst of some young fir-trees, whilst +Iron Duke was quietly browsing on the leafless twigs of a tree on the +other side of the wall. Gentle reader! I am sure you must feel for my +unfortunate position. I will not torture you further by relating the +painful particulars of how I scrambled over the wall; how I got on Iron +Duke, only to tumble off again; how I nearly broke my neck before I got +home; how Philley declared I had broken the horse's knees; how he made +me pay £50 for the animal; how I sold him the next week for £10 (less +£2 for carriage); and, worst of all, how Miss Trafford jilted me, and +my cousins--cruel girls--laughed at my misfortunes and made sport of my +troubles. Indeed, with all these we have nothing to do, for they +happened after "My First Day's Fox-hunting." + + + + +MY FIRST AND LAST STEEPLE-CHASE + + +In the year 1859, the Irish militia regiment in which I had the honour +to hold a commission was disembodied; but, as a reward for our +distinguished services at Portsmouth, where we mounted guard daily on +the dockyards for more than twelve months, each subaltern was presented +with a gratuity of six months' pay--a boon that must have been highly +appreciated at the time by our much-enduring and long-suffering +tailors, into whose pockets most of the money, in the end, found its +way. + +Dick Maunsel, the senior lieutenant, and myself were cousins, and (as +the old chief never lost a chance of telling us when we got into +trouble) "always hunted in couples." Our fathers' allowance had been +liberal. We were free from debt--that "Old Man of the Sea," which too +often hangs like a millstone about the British subaltern's neck--and, +finding ourselves at liberty, as a matter of course determined to go +off somewhere and get rid of our pay together. Much beer and tobacco +were consumed in the various "corobberys" held to talk the matter over; +and at length it was decided that we should take a lodge at a small +watering-place, well known to both, on the south-west coast of Ireland, +and there abide until something better turned up. + +I don't think, under the circumstances, we could have made a much +better choice. The salmon and sea-fishing were excellent; when the +shooting season came round, most of the moors in the neighbourhood were +free to us. The summer had been unusually hot; we were tired of town +life, and longing to divest ourselves of the "war paint," "bury the +hatchet," and get away to some quiet bay by the Atlantic, where we +could do what seemed right in our own eyes, free from the eternal +pipeclay and conventionalities with which we had been hampered. "Last, +not least," at a ball given before the regiment left Ireland, we had +met two girls, sisters, who usually spent the season there, and, if the +truth must be told, I believe they had hit us so hard we were +"crippled" from flying very far. So, after an impartial distribution of +the regimental plate, and a rather severe night at mess, to finish the +remains of the cellar, we bade farewell to our companions in arms, and +found ourselves once more in "dear old dirty Dublin," _en route_ for +the south. + +One evening, about six weeks after our arrival at Aunaghmore, we were +lying on the cliffs, watching the trawlers as they drifted slowly up +with the tide. The day had been dark and misty, with some thunder far +out at sea; but it cleared up as the sun went down, and I was pointing +out to Dick, who had been unusually silent, the remarkable likeness +between the scene before us and one of Turner's best-known pictures, +when he interrupted me suddenly, saying-- + +"I'll tell you a story, Frank. When a boy, I remember starting one +morning with poor Ferguson (the owner of Harkaway) to ride one of his +horses in a private match. We took a short cut across an old mountain +road, and coming out on the brow of the hill which commanded one of the +finest views in Ireland, I pulled up my horse to call Ferguson's +attention to it. 'For heaven's sake, sir,' he said impatiently, 'think +on something that will do you good.' And just at this moment, old man, +I feel half inclined to agree with him. How much money have you left?" + +Without speaking, I handed him my purse, the contents of which he +counted slowly over, saying, "I think we shall have enough." + +"Enough for what?" I asked. + +"For a ball," he replied coolly. "The people here have been very civil +to us, and we owe them some return. There are plenty of girls in the +neighbourhood to make a very good one; men are scarce; but we can ask +the "Plungers" over from ---- Barracks. Besides, I promised Emily last +night, and there's no getting out of it." + +I ventured mildly to suggest that the regiment didn't get out of the +last under a couple of hundred, and that we had not half that between +us. + +"My dear fellow," he replied, "this is quite another affair altogether. +We can borrow the club archery tent for a ballroom. There are many +things, game, &c., to be had for nothing here. My sisters are coming +over on a visit; they will look after the details. It will be a great +success, and we shall only have wine and lights to pay for." + +"And how far," I asked, with a slight sneer, "will the money left go in +getting those, not to speak of other essentials that must be provided?" + +"I have arranged all that as well," answered Dick, with the air of a +man who had thoroughly mastered the subject. "The races here come off +the end of August. There is a £50 Plate to be run for on the flat, and +a steeple-chase as well. I know all the horses likely to start. With +one exception (Father B.'s) ours can give them a stone for either +event. The priest can't run his horse; the new bishop has been down on +him. We can send for ours: plenty of time for a rough preparation. +Thanks to the hot weather, and that confounded drill, you can still +ride eleven stone. There now, what more do you want? Come along to the +lodge, and we will talk the matter over comfortably." + +I certainly had my misgivings as to the practicability of Dick's +scheme, but knew him too long and well to doubt his attempting it at +all events. I could, of course, refuse to join, and leave him to his +own devices; but we had pulled through too many scrapes together for +that. To do him justice, he generally succeeded in whatever he +undertook; and whether it was owing to his eloquence, some of his +father's old claret, or both combined, before we separated that night I +had entered heart and soul into his plans. + +We lost no time in commencing our preparations. Within a week the +horses had arrived; then Dick's sisters--two fine light-hearted girls, +full of fun and mischief--came over. After that there was no rest for +me. No unhappy adjutant of a newly-embodied militia or volunteer +regiment ever had more or a greater variety of work on hand. Sunrise +generally found me in the saddle, giving the horses a gallop on the +sands--a performance which had to be repeated twice during the day, +Dick's weight, some sixteen stone, preventing him from giving me any +assistance. I was overhead in love, besides, and four hours at least +had to be devoted to the object of my affections. We kept open house; +game and fish had to be provided for the larder, and the girls were +always wanting something or other from the neighbouring town, which +they declared only I could get; so between all, my time was fully +occupied, and seemed to fly. + +If Mr Mill's bill for giving ladies the franchise had been in force +then, I think Dick and myself would have had a fair chance of +representing the county. So soon as our intention to give a race ball +was known, we became the most popular men in it. Offers of supplies and +assistance came pouring in from all quarters. Plate, china, and glass +arrived so fast, and in such quantities, the lodge could not contain +them, and we were obliged to pitch the tent. As the time drew near, the +preparation and bustle increased tenfold. Our life was one continual +picnic. From early morning until late at night, the house was crowded +with girls laughing, flirting, trying on ball-dresses, and assisting in +the decorating of the tent. We never thought of sitting down to dinner, +but took it where, when, and how we could. _Ay de mi!_ I have been in +some hospitable houses since, where the owners kept _chefs_, and prided +themselves, not unjustly, on the quality of their cellars; but I never +enjoyed myself so much, and, I fear, never shall, as those scrambling +dinners, though the bill of fare often consisted of cold grouse, washed +down by a tankard of beer--taken, too, standing in the corner of a +pantry, surrounded by a host of pretty girls, all of them engaged in +teasing and administering to my wants. + +Early one morning, about a week before the races were to come off, I +was engaged as usual, exercising Dick's hunter on the course, when, at +a little distance, I saw a horse in body-clothes cantering along with +that easy stride peculiar to thorough-breds. For some time the rider +appeared anxious to avoid me, increasing the pace as I came near, until +the animal I rode, always headstrong, broke away and soon ranged +alongside. + +"Whose horse is that?" I inquired of the groom. + +"My master's, yer honour," he replied, without a smile, slackening his +pace at the same time, as mine raced past. + +When I succeeded in pulling up again, the fellow was galloping away in +another direction. I had seen enough, however: there was no mistaking +those flat sinewy legs. So, setting the horse's head straight for the +lodge, I went up to Dick's room. He was in bed, but awake; and though +his face slightly lengthened when I told him I was certain the priest's +horse had arrived, he answered coolly enough-- + +"You need not look so serious, Frank; at the worst, it is only a case +of selling Madman, and I have had a good offer for him. It is too bad +of the priest, though, to spoil our little game. They told me the +bishop had sat on him; but of course he will run in another name. I +should have known an old fox like that would have more than one earth. +He won't be able to go in for the double event, that is certain. His +horse can't jump. The steeplechase is ours; so come and have a swim. +After breakfast we will see what can be done." + +Unfortunately there was no help for it. The priest's horse had carried +off a Queen's Plate at the Curragh, and, safe and well at the post, +could win as he pleased. It was too late for us to draw back, however, +even if we were disposed that way. The invitations for the ball (which +was to come off the night of the races) were out. So, consoling +ourselves as well as it was possible under the circumstances, we +continued our preparations, looking well after the horses, determined +not to throw away a chance. + +Misfortunes seldom come alone. The day before the race, so ardently +looked forward to, arrived at last. I had been engaged in unpacking the +flowers that were arriving all the afternoon from the neighbouring +conservatories, while Dick was amusing himself brewing cold punch in +the lodge. The girls were out walking; and, when my work was over, I +took a stroll along the beach to meet them. Up to this time the weather +had been glorious; such a summer and autumn as few could remember: but +now I saw, with some anxiety, there was every appearance of an +unfavourable change. Although not a breath of wind stirred, the +ground-swell broke heavily on the bar, and there was a greenish look in +the sky where the sun was setting, that boded no good. The curlews were +unusually noisy, their clear, shrill whistle resounding on all sides, +and large flocks of sea-birds were flying in towards the land. A +fishing-boat had just made fast to the pier, and the owner came forward +to meet me. + +"What luck this evening, Barney?" I inquired. + +"Just middlin', yer honour. There's a dozen of lobsters, a John Dory, +and a turbot. I'll send them to the lodge. The oysters went up this +morning--iligant ones, they wor; raal jewels." + + +"All right, Barney--what do you think of the weather?" + +"Sorra one of me likes it, at all. Them thieves of seals are rollin' +about like _purposes_, and it isn't for nothin' they do that same. +It'll be a Ballintogher wind, too, before long, I'm thinkin'." + +"A what?" I exclaimed. + +"The very question the captain axed my brother. It was the first time +iver he went to say, and they wor lyin' somewhere off Afrikay. The +captin was walkin' the quarter-deck when my brother comes up to him, +and says, 'Captain Leslie, you had better shorten sail.' + +"'Why so?' ses the captin, very sharp. + +"'Bekase it's a Ballintogher wind.' + +"'And what the d----l wind may that be?' + +"'Oh murther!' ses my brother. 'There you are, wandherin' about the +world all yer life, and didn't hear of a Ballintogher wind, when there +isn't a gossoon in my counthry doesn't know the village it comes from, +and that it niver brought anything but cowld storm and misforthin' +along with it.' + +"Well, with that, they all tuk to laughin' like to split their sides at +my brother, an' the captin, he towld him to go forrid and mind his +work; but faith, they worn't laughin' two hours afther, when the ship +rowled the masts out of her, and they wor wracked among the haythens. +But wind or no wind, yer honour, I suppose the races will come off?" + +"So I hear, Barney." + +"I'm towld there's to be a fight between the Flahertys and the +O'Donnells; but shure av the priest's there it's no use for them to +try." + +"Why not, Barney?" + +"He's mighty handy with a hunting-whip, an' has got a bad curse +besides. He hot Mickey Devine over the head, for trying to rise a row +at the fair of Dingle, and left a hole in it you might put your fist +in. It was no great things of a head at the best of times, but faith, +he's quare in it at the full of the moon iver since. He cursed Paddy +Keolaghan, too, last Easter, an' the luck left him. His nets wor +carried away, the boat stove in, and the pig died. I don't give in to +the pig myself, for they let him get at the long lines afther they wor +baited; and sure enough when the craythur died, there was fifteen hooks +in his inside, enough to kill any baste. Besides, his reverence is very +partikler, an' wouldn't curse a Christian out of his own parish; but +it's not lucky to cross him anyhow; an' if he's there to-morrow, sorra +bit of fun we'll have. They say yer honours are for givin' a ball +afther the races." + +"So we are, Barney; and that reminds me--tell the girls to come up the +next night, and we'll give them a dance before the tent is taken down." + +"Long life to yer honour! It's proud and happy they will be to go. +Here's the young ladies comin'. Good evenin', sir! We'll be on the +coorse to-morrow, an' see you get fair play, anyhow." + +The tent-ropes flapped ominously that night as we turned in, and before +morning a storm came on which increased to a hurricane, when our party +assembled for breakfast, and looked out disconsolately enough at the +boiling sea, dimly visible through the driving rain and spray that +dashed in sheets of water against the glass. Already numbers of the +peasantry, on their way to the course, were staggering along the road, +vainly trying to shelter themselves from the furious blast which made +the very walls of the lodge shake. Taking advantage of a slight lull, +we managed to get a young fir-tree propped up against the pole of the +tent, and had just returned to the house when a well-appointed +four-in-hand came at a sharp trot up the avenue. + +"Here come the Plungers," said Dick. "Plucky fellows to drive over +fourteen miles such a morning." + +While he was speaking, a dozen bearded men got down and stalked +solemnly into the room. In a few minutes the ladies of our party made +their appearance, and before long the new comers were busily engaged in +some fashion or another. I have often admired the way in which Irish +ladies contrive to make the "lords of the creation" useful, but never +saw it more strongly exemplified than on the present occasion. Here you +might see a grave colonel employed in the composition of a lobster +salad; there a V.C. opening oysters as industriously as an old woman at +a stall; while in a snug corner, a couple of cornets were filling +custard cups and arranging flowers. To do the gallant fellows justice +they accepted the situation frankly, and set to work like men, while at +every fresh blast the girls' spirits seemed to rise higher; and before +long a merrier party could hardly be found anywhere. Twelve o'clock had +now come round, at which time, it was unanimously agreed, the day must +clear up; and a slight gleam of watery sunshine appearing, we all +started to carry the things over to the supper-room of the tent. As we +mustered a tolerably strong party, in less than an hour this was +effected, not, however, without sundry mishaps; one poor cornet being +blown right over a fence, into a wet ditch, with his burden. + +We were all so much engaged laying out the tables, that the increasing +darkness of the day was scarcely remarked until a vivid flash of +lightning, followed by a loud peal of thunder which broke directly +overhead, made the boldest pause for a moment in his occupation. The +storm, which had gone down considerably, burst forth again worse than +ever, the tent-pole swayed to and fro like a fishing-rod, and the +fir-tree we had lashed alongside for additional security threatened +every moment to come down by the run. Matters were beginning to look +serious, when Dick, snatching a carving-knife from the table, cut an +opening in the wall of the tent, through which we all bolted into the +open air. Hardly had we got clear of the ropes, when the tent-pole +snapped, the pegs gave way, the roof flew off down the wind, and with a +crash of broken glass, heard distinctly above the howling of the wind +and sea, the whole fabric came to the ground, burying all our materials +and the greater part of the supper in the ruins. + +All was over now,--"the stars in their courses" had fought against us. +There was no use in contending against fate and the elements; so, after +seeing the girls safe in shelter, and leaving the dragoons to test the +merits of Dick's cold punch, I filled my largest pipe with the +strongest cavendish, and had walked round to the lee of the house, to +blow a cloud in peace, and think over what was best to be done, when a +window opened above, and looking up, I saw a bright sunny face framed +against the dark scowling sky, and heard a voice call out, "Wait there +one moment, Frank; I am coming down." + +Without giving me time to reply, the face disappeared, but immediately +afterwards a small slight figure, closely muffled up, glided round the +corner, and put its arm in mine, while a pair of blue eyes looked up +appealingly in my face. + +"Don't look so down-hearted, Frank, or you will make me cry. I could +hardly keep from it, when I saw the tent in ruins, and heard that +dreadful crash. All Lady ----'s old china, I promised to take such care +of, and the flowers, and Mrs ----'s dinner service, that has been in +the family for four generations. It is a downright calamity; but we are +determined, happen what will, to have the ball, and I want you to come +to look at a barn we saw the other day." + +"But you cannot think of going out in such weather!" + +"Not by the road--the sea is all across it. But we can go by the +fields. Come now, and take great care of me." + +We did reach the barn, though with great difficulty; and, at first +sight, a more unlikely or unpromising place could hardly be found. In +one corner stood a heap of straw and a winnowing machine, under which +half a dozen rats scampered as we came in. The roof was thatched, and +in several places we could see the sky through it. Long strings of +floating cobwebs hung from the rafters, and the rough walls were +thickly coated with dust. There were two storeys to it, however; the +floor of the upper one was boarded and seemed sound. Taking out a +note-book, my companion seated herself on an old garden-roller, +saying-- + +"Go down-stairs, Frank, and finish your smoke; I want to think for five +minutes; or you may stay here, if you promise not to speak until I give +you leave." + +I gave the required pledge, and, lighting my pipe, lay down in a +corner, watching the rats peering out with their sharp, black, beady +eyes at the strange visitors, and rather enjoying the confusion of the +spiders, who, not relishing the smoke, were making off out of reach as +fast as they could. Before long my companion called me over, to give +her directions, which were, to go back to the lodge, and bring all the +volunteers I could get, as well as some materials, of which she gave me +a list. + +On my way I met one of the stewards, who told me the races had been +postponed until four o'clock in the afternoon, and on reaching the +lodge found Dick and the officers engaged in recovering "salvage" from +the tent. Getting out a wagonette, I soon had it filled with +volunteers, and drove them over to the barn, where we once more set to +work, and for the next few hours the rats and spiders had a bad time of +it. + +I was hard at work converting some rough deal boards into a +supper-table, when a little boy handed me a note, saying-- + +"They are clearin' the coorse, yer honour; you haven't a minit to lose; +I brought down a 'baste' for you." + +The note was from Dick, telling me the first race would be run off at +once. There was a dressing-room provided on the ground, so, jumping on +the horse, I rode down. + +The storm, after doing all the harm it well could to us, had now +cleared off, and the scene on the course was lively and animated +enough. A dozen frieze-coated farmers, headed by an old huntsman in +scarlet, were galloping wildly about to clear the ground, the usual +"dog" being represented, on this occasion, by a legion of curs, barking +at the heels of stray donkeys, sheep, cows, and goats, as they doubled +in and out, to avoid the merciless whips of their pursuers; and when at +last they were driven off, the people broke in on the line, and the +whole place appeared one mass of inextricable confusion, until the +priest, accompanied by the stewards, was found. The fisherman certainly +had not belied his reverence. More than once I saw his whip descend +with a vigour that made itself felt even through the thick greatcoats +worn by the peasantry, causing the recipient to shrink back, shaking +his shoulders, and never feeling himself safe until he had put the +nearest fence between him and the giver. Soon his stalwart figure, +mounted on a stout cob, was the signal for a general _suave qui peut_, +and the mob gradually settled into something like order, leaving the +course tolerably free. + +Six horses came to the post for the first race, which was about three +miles on the flat, the priest's of course being the favourite, and with +reason. It was a magnificent dark chestnut, with great power and +symmetry, showing the "Ishmael" blood in every part of its beautiful +frame, Dick's hunter, although thorough-bred, and with a fair turn of +speed, looking like a coach-horse beside it. The only other competitor +entered worth notice was a light bay, high-bred, but a great, staring, +weedy-looking brute, evidently a cast-off from some racing stable. + +At the word "Off!" a fair start was effected. The bay, however, had +hardly taken a dozen strides, when it came down, giving the rider an +ugly fall. After rolling over, it sat up like a dog, and stared wildly +about; then, jumping up suddenly, galloped into the sea, where it lay +down, apparently with the intention of committing suicide. Before we +had gone a mile, all the other horses were shaken off, and the priest's +jockey and myself had it all to ourselves. He was a knowing old fellow, +and evidently did not wish to distress his horse, keeping only a few +lengths ahead, until within the distance-post, when he let him go, +cantering in a winner by about twenty yards, and receiving a perfect +ovation from the people. + +In half an hour the bugle sounded for the horses to fall in for _the_ +race. A steeple-chase being always the great event on an Irish course, +we were about to take our places, when Dick came up with rather a long +face, and whispered-- + +"I am afraid the luck is against us still, Frank. Look at that gray. He +has been kept dark until now. Before seeing him I backed you rather +heavily with the priest. It was our only chance to get out." + +The more I looked the less I liked the appearance of either horse or +man. To a casual observer the first was a plain animal, cross-built, +rough in the coat, and with remarkably drooping quarters; but, on +closer inspection, a hunter all over, if not a steeple-chaser, although +an attempt had evidently been made to disguise his real character. The +saddle was old and patched; the bridle had a rusty bit, with a piece of +string hung rather ostentatiously from it; the rider might once have +been a gentleman, but drink and dissipation had left their mark on what +was originally a handsome face. His dress was slovenly and careless to +a degree, but he sat his horse splendidly, and his hand was as light +and fair as a woman's. He returned my look with a defiant stare. + +"That fellow looks dangerous," said Dick; "but I suspect he is more +than half drunk. Make a waiting race until you see what he is made of. +Above all things keep cool, and don't lose your temper." + +I had perfect confidence in the mare I rode. She had been broken by +myself, and many a long day we had hunted together over the big +pastures of Roscommon and Meath. There was a thorough understanding +between us. My only anxiety was as to how she would face the crowd, who +were collected in thousands about every jump, barely leaving room for +the horses to pass, and yelling like a set of Bedlamites let loose. +With the exception of the last fence, there were no very formidable +obstacles. It was a stone wall, fully five feet high, built up loose, +but strong, and rather a severe trial at the end of a race, if the pace +was a stiff one throughout. There was no time for thinking now, +however. The word was given, and we were away. + +About a dozen horses started--all fair animals, with that cat-like +activity in negotiating a fence so remarkable in Irish hunting. We had +hardly gone a mile, however, when the want of condition began to tell, +and they fell hopelessly to the rear, leaving the race to the gray, my +mare, and a game little thorough-bred, ridden and owned by one of the +dragoon officers. + +Up to this time I had followed Dick's directions to wait on the gray, a +proceeding evidently not approved of by the rider, for, turning round +in his saddle as he came down to a water jump, he said, with a sneer-- + +"You want a lead over, I suppose." + +I made no reply, and he went at the river; but whether by accident or +design, when within a few yards of the brink his horse bolted, dashing +in among the crowd. The dragoon's swerved slightly to follow; the +rider, however, would not be denied, and sent him through it; while my +mare, cocking her ears, and turning her head half round, as an old +pointer might do at seeing a young one break fence, flew over like a +bird, and settled steadily to her work on the other side. + +For some distance the dragoon and myself rode neck and neck, though the +pace was beginning to tell on his horse, who was slightly overweighted. +Our friend on the gray now raced alongside, and galloping recklessly at +an awkward ditch, which he cleared, took a lead of a dozen lengths, and +kept it until within a short distance of the last fence, when he fell +back, allowing us to get to the front once more. + +I think fear was the last thing uppermost in my mind as I rode at it. +My blood was fairly roused, and passing a carriage a minute before, I +got a glance from a pair of blue eyes that would have made a coward +brave. Still, with all that, I could not avoid a slight feeling of +anxiety as it loomed across, looking about as dangerous an obstacle as +the most reckless rider could desire at the end of a race. If stone +walls "grew," I could have sworn it had done so since I crossed it on +Dick's hunter the evening before. The people had closed in on both +sides until there was scarcely twenty feet of clear space in the +middle, and evidently a row of some sort was going on. Sticks were +waving wildly about, and a dozen voices shouted for me to stop, while +hundreds called to go on. The gray was creeping up, however. I had +faced as bad before, when there was less occasion; so pulled the mare +up to a trot until within a few yards, when I let her go with a shout +she well knew, and in a second we were safe on the other side. The +dragoon's horse refusing, the gray, who came up at full speed, chested +it heavily, and horse, rider, and wall came rolling over to the ground +together, while I cantered in alone. + +I had hardly received the congratulations of the stewards, when Dick +came up, looking flushed and excited. As he grasped my hand, he said +hurriedly-- + +"Why didn't you stop when I shouted?" + +"It was too late. But what is wrong?" + +"That scoundrel on the gray bribed a couple of fellows to add six +inches to the height of the wall during the storm this morning. They +raised it nearly a foot. Some one told the priest, but not until you +were in the field. He has caught one of them, the other got away. As +for the fellow himself, his collar-bone is smashed, and the horse all +cut to pieces. He couldn't expect better luck. It was a near thing, +though. I don't know how the mare got over it. She must have known," he +added, patting her neck, "what a scrape we were in." + +The usual hack races for saddles and bridles followed, and the day's +sport came to an end without a fight, thanks to the priest, whose +exertions to keep the peace would have satisfied a community of +Quakers, although they might not approve of the mode by which the +object was effected. + +We had hardly finished dinner at the lodge, when the carriages with our +guests for the ball began to arrive, those from a distance looking with +dismay at the wreck of the tent, that still lay strewed on the lawn. +They were all directed forward to the barn, however, whither we were +soon prepared to follow. + +Although my confidence in the ability and resources of the ladies of +our party was nearly unlimited, I could hardly avoid feeling some +slight misgivings on entering the barn, knowing the short time they had +to work in, and how heavily the mishap of the morning must have told +against them. All, however, agreed that they had seldom seen a prettier +room. The walls and roof were completely covered with fishing-nets, +filled in and concealed by purple and white heath. The effect was +remarkably good; and if the storm had deprived the supper-table of many +of the light dishes, quite enough was left to satisfy guests who were +not disposed to be critical. + +I shall not detain the reader by giving a description of the ball, +which proved a complete success, more than compensating us for the +trouble and anxiety we had undergone. It was seldom the girls in the +neighbourhood had a chance of enjoying themselves in that way, and they +seemed resolved to make the most of it. Human endurance, however, has +its limits. Towards morning the band, whose "staying powers" were +sorely tried, began to show symptoms of mutiny. Threats and bribes (the +latter too often administered in the shape of champagne) were tried, +and they were induced to continue for another hour. The result may +easily be anticipated: they broke down hopelessly, at last, in the +middle of "Sir Roger." A sudden change in the music made us all stop, +and to our dismay we found one half of the performers playing "God save +the Queen." The others had just commenced "Partant pour la Syrie," +while the "big drum" was furiously beating the "tattoo" in a corner. +Turning them all out, we threw open the windows. A flood of sunshine +poured into the room, and the cool fresh sea breeze swept joyously +round, extinguishing the lights. This was the signal for a general +departure. One by one our fair guests drove away, leaving + + "The banquet-hall deserted." + +The last man to go was the priest. As he mounted his horse I saw him +hand Dick a sheaf of dingy-looking bank-notes, and they parted, hoping +to meet again the following season, when the latter pledged himself to +bring something out of his own stable to race against the mare. But we +only appeared there once since in public, and that was at a wedding. +Before the next autumn came round we had settled down into steady +married men. I still hunt, but have grown stouter, and the old mare has +given place to a weight-carrier. The mare draws my wife and children to +church regularly, however, and though rather matronly-looking, is as +full of life and spirit as when she started with her master to win his +first and "last" steeple-chase. + + + + +SALMON-SPEARING + + +_Hei mihi præteritum tempus!_ That is, the past time when new Fishery +Laws did not forbid, and we young sportsmen might combat the salmon in +his own element, armed, like the Retiarius, with a trident, but, unlike +him, without a net. Ill-omened word! is it not to thee that the +interdict is owing?--blockading the mouth of every river with thy +cowardly meshes, only withdrawn for the barest minimum of hours out of +the twenty-four to give free passage to the home-sick fish and lusty +grilse to re-seek the dear old pools of his birth. For the grace now +extended, and the check put upon the rapacious suppliers of +Billingsgate and Leadenhall, we shall ever be grateful to the +Commissioners, even though the same powers that have removed the +stake-nets have prohibited the use of the spear, whose operation, as +numbered amongst the things past, we purpose to record. + +And first for the science of the sport. Salmon-spearing, as we used to +perform it, was of two kinds. First, that by day; second, that by +night. For the first, we choose that day when the more noble art of the +rod and fly would be exercised in vain--a clear sunny day, with as +little ripple as possible, and the water low, the field of operation +being generally the upper pools, or, in preference, the larger "burn" +or mountain stream whence the river took its source. + +The implements, a spear, or rather iron trident of three prongs, barbed +like a fish-hook, the prongs being about two inches apart, with a shaft +some ten feet in length; two or three long poles, whose uses will be +seen presently, and either a "gaff" or a landing-net. The essentials, a +hawk-like keenness of eye sharpened by long practice, a goat-like +agility amongst rocks and stones, and a philosophical indifference to +all such minor discomforts as a complete wetting and a frequent fall or +bruise. The night-work differed in the change of locality, the +favourite spot being the long shallow "reach" at the river's mouth, and +in the substitution of fir-torches for the poles of the day's +programme. Thus much for the nature of the sport; for a description of +it let the reader lend a kindly ear while we suppose the scene by the +banks of the river Arkail, in the Northern Highlands of Scotland (a +name which, by the way, he will in vain try to establish in the best of +educational atlases or tourists' guides). + +"What a baking day! No use taking out the dogs; there's not a breath of +scent along the whole hill-side; and one might as well try to fish in a +tub as throw a line over the looking-glass-like pools to-day. What's +to be the order of the day, Frank? I think I shall take a walk up to +the top of Ben Voil and 'spy' if there are any deer lying near the +ground." + +"I don't think you can do better. We have already planned a foray with +the spear in the Upper Pools; but you don't care about that sort of +work; so good luck to you, and adieu for the present. I suppose you'll +take Stuart with you?" + +Even as he spoke a cheery voice outside had summoned Frank, warning him +that his set were waiting; so, with a parting remembrance from Charles +Marston, the eldest of our party, and the tacitly-acknowledged head, to +"mind and 'crimp' your fish directly you get him out of the water," +Frank Gordon hastened to the gravelled square in front of the lodge, +and found his brother amongst a group of keepers and "gillies," who, by +the arms they bore, gave sufficient evidence of their intended +occupation. With the exception of a "forester," Hugh Ross, who, by +virtue of his position and his long Gaelic descent, persevered in the +traditions of his ancestors, and robed his limbs in a kilt of home-spun +tartan, the rest of the sportsmen were clad in knickerbockers, master +and man alike. And now they were off, and making down the "brae" with +the long dropping action which marks the practical mountaineer, being +greeted as they passed the kennels by the most dismal howling from the +dogs, who evidently did not comprehend that spears were not guns, and +that there were occasions, such as salmon-spearing, on which their +services might be dispensed with, and who further interpreted the +volley of mingled Gaelic and Sassenach ejaculations hurled at them as a +command to increase their note from _forte_ to _fortissimo_, a +proceeding accordingly executed with the most painful exactness which +the canine intellect could suggest. + +A short half-hour's walk, and the hollow moaning of a waterfall told of +the journey's end. Brushing through a small birch-wood that clothed the +high banks of the stream, our party stood on the edge of a sheer rock +about thirty feet high, and, looking down on the scene of their +intended operations, assigned to each his post and duty. A long, +narrow, black pool, shallowing towards the tail into a rushing stream, +dashing madly against the boulders scattered at random in its course; +the rocks rising steep and bare on either side, but fringed on their +summits with the drooping birch-trees and overhanging heather nestling +round the delicate little ferns and rock-plants that peeped timidly out +here and there; and away at the head of the pool, the finishing charm +of the lovely spot, the tumbling waterfall, which ever filled the air +with its clamorous voice, and beat the red waters below into a mad +whirl of eddies and bubbles and leaping foam. Truly as sweet a picture +as Nature ever limned, which, had it been a few degrees farther south, +might have been an unfailing trap for excursionists to expend their +savings on a "pack" in a covered carriage, and a cheap ride +_uninsured_, or might have had its heath-covered banks dotted with +picnic parties, and its waters sweetened with the chicken-bones so +deftly thrown by the playful Miss Holiday; but being, alas, poor +Monar--only one of many such scenes in the bosom of the Highland hills, +_all_ inaccessible by steam or jaunting-car--it must e'en remain +unknown, save to the privileged few, who now looked at it with the less +noble view of how they might draw a fish from its black depths. + +"Ah, wunna ye look at him? Hech, doon he comes; ye maun e'en try again, +my bonny mon." + +This address was called forth from honest Sandy Macgregor, one of the +gillies of the party, by the sight of a salmon leaping at the falls, +but who, having failed to clear them, hit with a heavy whack against +the rock, and, with a vain wriggle and struggle, fell back into the +pool beneath. + +"You may see more of him yet, Sandy," said Alick Gordon, the elder of +the brothers, "if meanwhile you will try and get me a little gravel." + +A few minutes, and Sandy returned, bringing his cap full of sand and +small stones, which Alick, taking, threw in handfuls down the pool, +close by the edge of the rock. The result of this mysterious +proceeding, being closely watched by the group, was announced by a +general murmur of satisfaction as, almost straight beneath them, a +string of bubbles rose to the surface of the stream and floated idly +away. (For the benefit of those who have never seen this piece of +fishing-craft, we may explain that, as a fish is lying at the bottom +with his head up-stream, allowing the water to run into his mouth and +out through his gills--his mode of breathing--some of the gravel as it +sinks down enters his mouth, and as the fish ejects it, he sends up a +few bubbles, which mark the spot he is lying in.) + +"Is that your friend, Sandy?" cried Alick, on seeing the success of his +device. "You ought to know him if you saw him again, so come along down +here with me." + +Away went the speaker to the farther end of the pool, where, by +scrambling and swinging, he managed to let himself down the rock, and +plunged knee deep into the rapids. Closely followed by Sandy, he made +his way towards the deep water, keeping close beneath the high bank, +where he knew that, at about the depth of his waist, a small ledge ran +along the rock which would afford him a footing. Quietly and carefully +he arrived at the spot where the bubbles had been seen to rise; and +telling Sandy to hold him round the waist, as he stood beside him on +their precarious footing, he took off his cap, and holding it over the +water so as to throw a shade in which the smallest objects at the +bottom of the stream were visible to his practised eye, he bent down, +and began a long and wary search. One unaccustomed to the work might +have looked till nightfall without seeing more than the changing lights +and shadows playing over the deep-sunk stones; but Alick's experience +soon showed him a long black object, like a shade, lying close by the +rock, and in about nine feet of water. Having satisfied himself as to +the exact position of his treasure-trove, he shouted a warning to the +group above, and told Sandy to take a look. + +"Ah, the big blackguard!" whispered the gillie, as he lifted his +dripping face after his subaqueous search. "Have a care, Mister Alick, +and give him the point well over the shouther." + +"Hold up tight then, Sandy, and give a shade with your cap as I tell +you. That's right; no, a little further out--now then, steady!" + +As he spoke, Gordon was slowly letting down the spear a little behind +the salmon, till, when it was about a foot above the fish, he paused, +and braced himself for the stroke, his left hand grasping the spear +about halfway down, to guide the aim, and the right hand holding it +near the top to give the blow, while his face was nearly buried in the +water, as he kept his eye on his prey. + +"Further out yet with the cap, Sandy. Now, hold on!" + +Down shot the spear: for one instant the shaft shook violently as the +struck salmon struggled beneath the weight which was pinning it to the +bottom, and the next, with a loud splash and flurry, the strong fish +bore to the surface, and shaking himself off the barbs, dragged Gordon, +still holding on to the spear, headlong into the pool. + +A loud shout from the watchers on the top of the precipice greeted this +"coup," and on the gillie, who had been posted near the bottom of the +pool, announcing that "the fish had ne'er come his way," all those who +had, up to this time, been mere passive spectators, made the best of +their way down the rocks, to take their part in the coming struggle. + +With a few strokes Alick gained the shallows at the tail of the pool, +and as the stream divided into two chief courses, himself commanded one +with his spear, and deputed the other to Hugh Ross. Meanwhile, Frank +was directing the gillies, who were "poking" the fall and deep water +with the long poles we mentioned, a proceeding intended to drive any +fish that might be lying about there down to the lower end of the pool, +where they would meet the spearmen, or else to take refuge behind the +big rocks and boulders, where they might be discovered afterwards. All +was noise and eagerness, save with the two spearmen, who, silent as +statues, were keenly watching the few yards of clear water in front of +them, ready to spring into life the moment they detected the approach +of a fish. And as Hugh Ross looked, a black shadow of a sudden swept +down with the current before him, and as he moved a step to meet it, +whisked away, and shot past him with the arrow-like speed which a +salmon, better than any fish that swims, can command; but the active +Highlander was a match for the occasion, and with a dexterity which +must be seen to be appreciated, gave a backward spring, and struck +sharp down with his spear a good two feet in front of his mark; and as +he held the struggling fish down by bearing with his whole weight on +his weapon, the shaking shaft told of the good quarry he had secured. +With a wild shout of triumph Alick rushed to the rescue, and throwing +himself down in the water, seized the salmon under the gills, and +quickly bore him to land, where Marston's injunction was acted upon, +and the crimping-knife brought into play. + +"Ye took a good shot, too, Mister Alick," said Hugh Ross, looking at +the wound behind the head which Gordon had given; "but he was a +clean-run fish, and as full of life as a stag in August; and I'm +thinking he will not have joost right justice at fifteen pounds' +weight." + +"I'd be sorry to carry him at that weight, Hugh," answered his master. +"But all the merit belongs to you, for little should we ever have seen +of him again but for that flying shot of yours. However, there he is, +and a beautifully-shaped fish too; so tie him up, and let's carry him +off to the house, where you'll get glory enough from both Mr Marston +and the cook. Come along Frank." + +So saying, Alick marched away, followed by the rest of the party. On +arriving at the lodge, they found that Marston had not yet returned; so +it being still early in the day, they debated as to the best method of +employing the time yet left them; and as the bright still weather +effectually negatived all propositions of going after grouse or taking +a cast with a fly in any of the Upper Pools, the suggestion of Hugh +Ross who had become unusually keen after his triumph of the morning, to +rest till the evening and then make a night of it with the spear at the +mouth of the river Arkail, was unanimously adopted. There was a good +thirteen miles' walk over the hill between the lodge and the intended +scene of the night's operation, but our hardy young sportsmen regarded +that only so far as to order their dinner at an earlier hour than +usual, so as to start in time in the evening, and employed the +intervening period in tying up bundles of fir-splinters to make +torches, and in providing themselves with dry suits of clothing, after +the wetting they had just received. + +Shortly before seven o'clock they were ready to start, and having left +a note for Marston, who had not yet returned from the hill, they set +out, following Hugh Ross in single file, as he led the way over the +darkening moor. All were too well accustomed to the work to come to +much grief over the broken ground, beyond an occasional stumble or +sudden fall as the foot slipped into an unseen hole in the moss; and +before long the autumn moon rose full and bright to light their way, +promising an idle time of it to the torches, which some of the gillies +bore patiently on. + +It was not yet eleven o'clock when the sportsmen stood on the banks of +the Arkail, looking happily across the broad river, which flowed +musically over its shallow bed, showing almost clearer in the silver +radiance of the moon than in the dazzling splendour which lit it up +during the day; but across on the opposite bank the trees which fringed +its sides stood out black and heavy as a wall of rock. + +"What a glorious night!" exclaimed Alick, as the scene first burst upon +him. "Look, Frank, away over there where the river runs into the Firth; +that bit of it you see by the farthest corner gleams like a sheet of +pure silver, and the Inch-na-coul hills look as if they were touched +with hoar-frost. Isn't it pretty? and what a night for us! Come on, +Hugh and Sandy there, let's be getting to work, but warm the cockles of +your heart first with a drop of whisky. Here, try my flask, Hugh. +That's right--the same to you, thanks, and good luck to us both," as +the forester drank his young master's health; "and I think I shall stay +about here with Mr Frank, if you will go a little lower down and post +the boys, and tell them to keep a sharp look-out, and mind and 'holloa' +in time; and I say, Donald there, don't you be giving us any stones for +fish to-night, you rascal." (This was in reference to a false alarm +raised on a previous occasion by the unhappy Donald, who had mistaken +the ripple caused by a stone lying in the way of the stream for the +wake made by a travelling salmon, and had given notice accordingly: and +while here, we may explain that the _modus operandi_ in salmon-spearing +by night is to post watchers down the bank at regular intervals, who on +seeing the wake of a fish going steadily up stream--and remember that +salmon only travel or run up a river at night--shout to the spearmen +above to give notice, who, being put on the alert, wait till they also +see the little wave which marks their prey, and then walk into the +river to meet it.) + +Away went Hugh and his subordinates, leaving the brothers to choose +their own positions; and as Alick walked off announcing his intention +of crossing the river and taking one of the gillies with him to command +the opposite side, Frank remained alone gazing at the running stream +before him, and taking stock of all the ripples and eddies caused by +the larger stones in the bed of the river, so that in the heat of the +moment, when instantly expecting the salmon of which notice might have +been given, he might not fall into Donald's error, and confound the +inanimate with the living agent. The witching stillness of the night, +broken only by the monotonous gurgling of the running waters and the +soft whispering of the trees, before long lulled the young watcher into +a state of semi-consciousness, in which he sat with open eyes staring +forward into the space before him, with a dim remembrance that he was +looking out for salmon, and that the white flood beneath him was a +river and the appointed subject of his closest observation; but a whole +shoal of salmon might have passed and dubbed him wisest of men for the +blissful ignorance he would have manifested of their presence, had not +a sudden shout of "Mark!" roused him from his somnolence and recalled +his wits to full life and activity. With ear and eye painfully alert, +he heard the shout taken up by the next gillie, and the sound of his +feet over the gravel as he ran along the river's side to keep his prey +in view; then the noise of some one cautiously wading out in the water, +a sudden rush and splashing, and the next minute a clamour of voices, +amongst which he could discern that of Hugh Ross calling for a light; +and as he looked far down the stream he saw a torch coming down the +bank and borne into the river, and the flare of the smoking pine-wood +showed him a dark group standing in the water, and for one moment he +fancied he saw the gleam of a fish being lifted out! and then, as the +group retreated to the bank, he again distinguished Hugh's voice +good-humouredly depreciating his own prowess, by proclaiming the +unimportance of his capture, which was "joost a sma' grilse, and no +worth the mentionin', an' it were not for makin' up the number." + +The commotion created by this incident had barely subsided, when again +a sharp cry through the stillness of the night announced the approach +of another fish, and again Frank heard the warning taken up by one +watcher after another, when, as he stayed expecting each instant to +hear Hugh anticipate him in the encounter, his eye caught a moving +ripple in the water, a small advancing wave tailing into a broad wake, +and with a wild feeling of excitement he dropped into the river and +waded carefully in to meet it: he was yet six or seven yards above it, +as he stood nervously grasping his spear, and still he stood motionless +as a statue, till the wave washed up close beside him, when sharp and +sudden he launched out his spear--swish!--and the iron rattled on the +pebbles in the river, as the salmon dived down beneath the blow which +had grazed its back, and shot away up the stream. + +"Alick, Alick, come here, I'm sure I struck it!" shouted the eager boy, +as he rushed headlong after his prey, ever and anon tripping over a +stone and falling with a loud splash into the shallow water, which for +more than a mile from the mouth of the Arkail was rarely more than +three feet deep; but though he every now and then fancied he saw the +salmon's wake still bearing on before him, he ran to little purpose but +to cover himself with wounds and bruises from head to foot, and was on +the very point of giving up his fruitless chase, from sheer exhaustion, +when a cry from his brother, sounding ahead of him, urged him on, and +as he turned a corner round which the river swept in a sharp curve, he +came upon Alick standing near the bank and pinning something down with +his spear to the bottom of the water. "Go down and get him under the +gills, old boy," was his brother's greeting, as Frank stumbled +breathlessly up; "he's a regular monster, and will take you all you +know to carry him in; but I think he's your friend, and he will count +as yours, if we find your mark on him." "First spear" always counted in +the Sunderbunds' (a precedent advanced by the speaker from his +reminiscences of pig-sticking in Lower Bengal). + +"There it is then, Alick," said Frank, as he laid the fish down on the +river's bank and pointed to a jagged cut a little behind the dorsal +fin. "I did not allow enough in front, and should never have seen him +again but for you; but isn't he a thick fellow, and I can answer for +his weight already. I shouldn't care about carrying him to the lodge, I +know; but I suppose we had better take him back to the others, so we +may tie him up, if you have a bit of string with you. Thanks,--that +will do capitally." + +Reader, I hope we have not failed by this time to give you an insight +into the mysteries of a sport which, though now defended by stringent +penalties, was no unworthy one in its time, requiring, as it did, the +utmost dexterity, training, and endurance: three objects which in +themselves are sufficient to elevate any pursuit which can promote +them, and which many seek to acquire amongst the mountains of +Switzerland or the hills of Scotland. In a lesser way, after the +fatigues of the London season, the gentler sex strive to attain the +same end by walking, riding, sailing, or otherwise recruiting with +fresh country air. + + + + +CARPE DIEM + + +When one gets ever such a little older, one gets very much more +disinclined to take much trouble, much physical trouble that is, about +hobbies which once were ridden to death. A few years ago it was a +pleasure to get up at two o'clock in the morning, and have six hours' +fishing before it became necessary to get to work at Blackstone and +Chitty, and the endless writing of "common forms"; now I prefer keeping +within the sheets until breakfast-time, and leaving fishing expeditions +for legitimate holidays. So that, as holidays are not very frequent, +and often necessarily taken up in other ways, and as fishing stations +are distant, and not easily accessible, my hand is in danger of +forgetting its cunning in wielding a fishing-rod. I do not so much miss +my favourite sport, until, in an unfortunate hour, I get hold of a book +of angling reminiscences, of which there are plenty, and reading in its +pages vivid descriptions of days by the riverside, such as I used to +experience myself, my fancy sets to work, and, aided by memory, +conjures up such delightful visions that at last I cannot sit still; +the room, ay, and the town, seem to stifle me, and I long for a +glorious ramble, rod in hand, as much as I ever did. + +Following close upon the perusal of such a book, and the feelings +awakened by it, I was pleased beyond measure to find myself possessed +of a few days of leisure, and once more in the bonny border land of +Wales. I took care to make the most of my time, and seize the +opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with some of those charming +spots with which, as an angler and a writer, I had in times past +identified myself. + +One day I spent in tracing the wanderings of the burn whence a lusty +trout had been transferred to my pannier. Another afternoon I set out +for a carp pool, not _the_ carp pool _par excellence_ of our boyish +days, but one nearly as good, where I had caught some six-pounders +years ago. I walked to the place--it was two miles and a half +away--burdened with three rods and a huge bagful of worms, intent upon +slaughter. I neared the field, I crossed the hedge. I stood still and +gazed in astonishment. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. _There was no +pool there._ I walked round the field and across the field, which was +strewn with clumps of rushes. A peewit had laid four eggs on the very +spot, as I calculated, where I had hooked my biggest carp. A small boy +hove in sight. I seized him, and asked him where the pool had gone. He +answered, "Whoy, mun, it ha' been drained dry these three years." I sat +upon a gate and smoked four cigarettes, then walked home, my rods +feeling twice as heavy as when I came that way. + +I was to be recompensed, however, for my disappointment by a day at the +carp pool on the hill at Craigyrhiw, Coed-y-gar, or Penycoed, for it +goes by all three names, the first being the most proper. By accident I +met an old friend from a distance, who, when he heard where I was bound +to, offered to accompany me. I was glad of his companionship for more +than one reason. He had affected to disbelieve my accounts of the big +fish to be caught there, and this was an opportunity of vindicating +myself from the charge of exaggeration. He got his rods and we started, +pausing on the way to get a couple of small Melton Mowbray pies for +lunch. My friend, whom I shall call A., left the commissariat +department to me, and I, having just had a good breakfast, did not +contemplate the possibility of becoming very hungry during the day, so +considered we should have quite sufficient to recruit ourselves with. +Leaving the town, we passed under the beautiful avenue of limes in the +churchyard, musical with rooks and sweet with the spring fragrance, and +so on to Oswald's Well. Under a tree at this spot King Oswald fell in +battle, and out of the ground afterward sprang water, said to be +endowed with healing power. The well is neatly arched over with stone, +and has an effigy of King Oswald at the back; but the latter offered +too good a mark for the stones of the grammar-school lads to remain +undefaced. Oswaldestree is now corrupted into Oswestry, or more +commonly among the country people, Hogestry or Osistry. Just above the +well is the present battle-ground, where affairs of honour among the +schoolboys are, or used to be, settled by an appeal to fisticuffs. + +Crossing Llanvorda Park we enter Craigvorda woods, at once the most +beautiful and picturesque of the many similar woods on the borders. The +ground is mossy underfoot, the trees meet overhead, glossy green ferns +pave the noble corridors, which have for pillars straight and sturdy +firs and larch, and for a roof the heavy foliage of interwoven sycamore +and oak. At intervals the chestnut too lifts its gigantic nosegay of +pink and white and yellow flower-spikes, and near it, out of some +craggy knoll, the "lady of the forest," the silver birch, bends +tenderly over the masses of blue hyacinths below. "The shade is silent +and dark and green, and the boughs so thickly are twined across, that +little of the blue sky is seen between;" but there is no lack of blue +underfoot, for the hyacinths seem to have claimed the wood as their own +property, and shine like a shimmering sea of blue between the +tree-stems, quite putting out of countenance with their blaze of colour +the modest violet, growing by the side of the runnels leaping downward +to join the noisy brook. + +We crossed the Morda, a purling trout stream, out of which you may +easily basket a score of trout in the spring; up a lane, the banks of +which were crowded so thickly with spring flowers, starwort, and other +snow-white flowers, deep-blue germander speedwells, red ragged robins, +and wild geraniums, monkshood, daisies, dandelions, and buttercups, +that the green of the leaves and grasses was quite absorbed and lost in +the brighter hues; up and up, until our legs began to ache, and at last +we came to the crest of the hill, in the hollow a few feet below which +lay the tarn, gloomy enough, but weirdly beautiful. The water itself +looked green from the prevailing colour of the rushes and flags, and +the deep belt of green alders, which grew half in and half out of it +all round. + +"Look," I said, "there are two herons, a couple of wild-ducks, with +their young brood just hatched, twenty or thirty coots and waterhens, +and some black leaves sticking up out of the water, which are the +things we are after." + +"What do you mean?" asked A. + +"They are the back fins of carp." + +A.'s rods--he had two, as I had--were put together with remarkable +quickness. I took it more leisurely, and watched him searching about +for a place to cast his line in, with some amusement. + +"I say, how are we to get at the water?" he cried. + +"Wade." But this he was averse to doing. He found a log of wood, and +pushing it out beyond the bushes, where it was very shallow, he took +his stand upon it in a very wobbley state, with a rod in either hand. I +took up a position a short distance from him, and we waited patiently +for half an hour without a bite. Suddenly I heard a splash, and looking +round, saw that A. had slipped off his perch, and was halfway up to his +knees in water, with a broken rod and a most rueful expression on his +face. + +"I have lost such a beauty." + +"Serves you right. You can't pitch a big carp out like you could a +trout. This is the way--see." + +I struck at a decided bite, and found that I was fast in a good fish, +which, after a lively bit of splashing and dashing about (the water was +only knee-deep, though so muddy the fish could not see us), I led into +a little haven or pond, where the inmates of a cottage in the wood came +to get their water, and lifted him out with my hands--a tidy fish of +three pounds in weight. In about a quarter of an hour A.'s float moved +slightly. He was all excitement directly. He had never caught anything +larger than a half-pound trout. Some minutes elapsed before another +movement took place. + +"He has left it," said A. + +"No, he has not. Don't move; you will get him presently." + +Then the float or quill gave a couple of dips; then in a few seconds +more moved off with increasing rapidity. "Now strike." A. did so, and +soon landed a carp of two pounds. From that time we had steady sport +throughout the day. Every quarter of an hour one of us had a bite; and +although we missed a good many through striking too soon, our +respective heaps of golden-brown fish (very few of the carp there are +at all white) grew rapidly in size. + +As we were coming back from a small larch-tree where we had found a +beautifully constructed golden-crested wren's nest, suspended from the +under side of a branch, A. suddenly clasped me round the middle, and +gave me a very neat back throw. + +"Hullo! what's that for?" I exclaimed, considerably astonished as I sat +on the ground. + +"Your foot was just poised over that beggar," he said, pointing to a +big brown adder, which was gliding away like an animated ash-stick. + +"Ah, thanks; there are too many of those fellows here." + +We had eaten the two pies, and as four o'clock drew near we got mighty +hungry again. + +"Just hand me over another pie, old fellow, Nature abhors a vacuum," +said A. + +"I haven't got any more," I answered. + +"Not got any more? O dear!" After a pause, "I _am_ hungry." In a +little while longer A. started off, saying, "You mind my rod while I am +away. I am going foraging for food. I'll try and catch a rabbit, and +eat him alive, oh! I've been meditating upon those fish, but I don't +like the look of them." + +He was gone for about half an hour, during which time I had landed +three fish. When he came back he had the countenance of a man who had +dined well. He said to me, + +"Go as straight as you can through the wood in that direction, and you +will come to a cottage where there is plenty of hot tea, a loaf of +bread, and some butter awaiting you. I never dined better in all my +life, and I forgive you for only bringing two pies." + +I obeyed his directions, and the tea certainly was refreshing, although +I could not get any sugar with it. + +It was time to be going. We counted our fish. I had eleven (my usual +number at that pool, by the way), and A. had ten, most from two to +three pounds each, but one or two heavier. We selected the best, and as +many as we could conveniently carry, and gave the rest to some +cottagers. + +From the shooting-box, which is at the top of the hill, and is, by the +way, in a state of dilapidation, we had a most magnificent view, one +well worth the walk to see. It was a view which embraced Shropshire, +Cheshire, Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, and Merionethshire. In the +vividly green valley below us the little village of Llansilin +slumbered, scarcely noticeable were it not for the dark and massy +yew-trees in its churchyard. + +From the rocks farther on we saw a pretty sight. A fox was standing on +a stone, and on a sloping slab beneath her five cubs were sprawling and +gambolling about like a lot of Newfoundland puppies. + +Presently the vixen trotted off a little way and lay down; and while we +were watching her a rabbit popped out of his burrow, and came several +yards towards Reynard without seeing her. With one bound fox was upon +bunny, and the pair rolled over and over down the hill. The captor then +slunk off with her captive, not to her young ones, but to a quiet hole +in the cliff, to have a gorge all by her greedy self. + +In a hollow tree in the cliff we found three jackdaws' nests, each with +four eggs in; and we were amused at watching a woodpecker tapping away +at a tree. The noise produced was like that made by drawing a stick +very rapidly over some wooden palings, and quite as loud, or even more +like a watchman's rattle worked rather slowly. A curious spectacle was +presented in the lane on going home. It was a warm damp night, and +every dozen yards or so a glowworm exhibited its eerie light, and each +successive one seemed to shine more whitely and brightly than the last. + +The day was done, its pleasure seized, and--no, not gone, for a +pleasant memory remains wherewith to delight myself, and perchance +please my friends, among whom I would fain number all angling readers. + + + + +NEWMARKET + +BY CAPTAIN R. BIRD THOMPSON + + +Newmarket is termed, and justly so, the metropolis of racing, but a +greater contrast than Newmarket presents during the race-weeks and the +rest of the year can scarcely be imagined. Any one who stood on the top +of the hill on the Cambridge road, and looked down the main street, in +one of the off-weeks, would think that he had hardly ever seen such a +desolate forsaken-looking sort of place; the only living things to be +seen being a few old women standing at the corners of the streets +scratching their elbows, and two or three lads lounging about. +Occasionally a tradesman will come out of his shop, and, after looking +disconsolately up and down the street, will go and look into his own +shop-window; his idea being, I suppose, either to see if he can dress +his window more attractively, or that he would rather stare into his +own shop-window than that nobody at all should; and the only way you +would discover you were in a great racing district would be that you +might see a string of sheeted racers passing through the street on +their way from their training-grounds to their stables; or if you +listened to the old women's or lads' conversation you would hear +nothing but about some of the numerous trainers' "lots." The number of +empty houses, too, and the bills of auction sales you see posted up +everywhere with "In re" So-and-so in the corner, or "By order of the +Sheriff," add to the desolateness of the scene. But during the +race-weeks all this is altered, and the scene is as exciting and +enlivening as it was dull before; the pavements crowded with men, two +huge masses on each side, at the Rooms and White Hart, reminding one +strongly of the way bees hang out of their hives previous to swarming. +The inhabitants, too, erect stalls down both sides of the street, where +all sorts of things are exposed for sale--fruit and vegetables of every +kind, and amongst these hampers of a curious vegetable believed by the +aborigines to be cucumbers, but to an uninstructed eye looking like a +cross between a pumpkin and a hedgehog, so yellow and prickly are they; +large baskets of mushrooms, those esculents which once cost the late +Lord George Bentinck so dearly, and which he ever after cursed so +heartily. There are stalls also where clothes and boots are sold, +besides others where very dubious-looking confectionery is dealt in, +and one I saw which had plates of yellow snail-looking things for sale. +I do not know whether racegoers are supposed to eat these things, but +if they do they must have uncommonly strong stomachs. + +Vehicles of every sort and shape are plying for hire in the street, all +of that wonderful kind that seem peculiar to race-meetings, regattas, +&c., and which fill a person with wonder to think where they could have +been made, and what they were originally intended for. Newmarket is, +indeed, worth seeing on the morning of one of the big days, like the +Cambridgeshire, to form any idea of the enormous multitude of people +attending. It is well worth while to get into the stand at the end of +the Rowley Mile as soon as you can, and a most wonderful sight it is to +see the huge and incessant mass of people pouring down the side of the +course from the old stand; one unbroken stream, many yards wide, and +apparently never ending, yet perfectly quiet and orderly; no rough +horseplay or rowdyism; composed of men who come for racing, and nothing +else. An almost equally large string of vehicles pours down the road, +the full ones getting along as fast as they can manage, and those that +have discharged their loads galloping back in hopes of fresh fares. The +natural idea of anyone attending for the first time is that there will +be an awful crush; but such is the excellence of Newmarket as a +racecourse that there is none whatever, and every one, either on foot +or in the stand, can see every race from start to finish, with the +exception of those run on the Cesarewitch course, and then no one can +see the horses until they come into the straight, with the exception of +a bare sight of the start, and a glimpse of them as they pass the Gap, +which may be caught by keen-eyed people in the stand. It is really +extraordinary to see how the immense crowd that you behold coming seems +to dissipate, so that there does not appear to be any very great +multitude of people until the races are over, and you turn home; then +you see how enormous the numbers have been, there being a complete +block of people from the course right through the town, and even up to +the station. + +The stand is, as usual, divided into three portions--one for members of +the Jockey Club, the second Tattersall's, and the third for the general +public; the two last named are generally full, as all the principal +bookmakers assemble here. There is comparative quiet until the numbers +for the first race are put up--the only noise to be remarked is the +voice of some bookmaker offering to bet on some big race to come; but +suddenly a peculiar creaking is heard, and a frame rises above the +building next to the trainers' stand, with the numbers of the horses +starting, and the names of jockeys. There is then a dead silence for a +minute or so, whilst people are marking their cards, and next a perfect +storm of "four to one, bar one!" or whatever the odds may be, rises +from the ring, deafening and utterly bewildering the novice. This storm +lasts, if it is not a heavy betting race, not only until the horses are +at the post, but even as they are running, and some insane individuals +actually offer to bet as to what horse has won after they have passed +the post. But if there has been heavy betting a dead silence is +maintained in the ring from the time the horses get to the starter +until they have passed the post; this was most remarkably illustrated +on the last Cambridgeshire day. From the time the horses got to the +starting-post until the race was finished, though there was a delay of +three-quarters of an hour, owing to some of the horses repeatedly +breaking away, not a sound was heard in the ring; the silence was +almost oppressive. Sometimes when a complete outsider wins, whose name +has never been written down by the book-makers, the more excitable of +them throw up their hats and cheer loudly; but as a body they are a +most impassive set of men, and you could never tell by their faces +whether they had lost or won. Very curious are they in another way: +they never seem to, and I suppose really do not, care a bit about the +horses themselves; many of them not even looking at them when they are +running, merely glancing at the winning numbers when put up. They do +not appear to be guided in their bets by any regard to the condition of +the horses, state or length of the course, or their previous +performances, but on what they imagine to be the intentions of the +stable to which they belong; and sometimes they seem to suppose that +certain horses take it in turns to win, and back them accordingly, +quite independently of the condition of the horse itself. A remarkable +instance of this occurred at one Houghton Meeting, in the All-aged +Stakes: only two horses were left in for them, Ecossais and Trappist, +the former with three pounds the best of the weights. It is true they +had run in and out in a very curious way, and this time the bookmakers +declared "it was Trappist's turn," and backed him accordingly, giving +odds against the other. When they passed the stand on their way to the +starting-post, Trappist was going along with his head in the air, +fighting with his bit, and with the stiltiest stiffest action possible; +Ecossais cantering by his side as pleasantly as a lady's hack. But in +spite of this, though it must have been evident to anyone that Trappist +did not intend to try, and was thoroughly sulky, yet the bookmakers +gave him all their support because "it was his day." As was to be +expected, Ecossais came right away from him, winning easily; and great +was their wrath. + +The principal bookmakers have their regular stations in the ring, where +they can be readily found by their customers; and as they stand there +with a pleasant smile on their faces, the old nursery rhyme, "Ducky, +ducky, ducky, come and be killed," always comes forcibly into my mind. +A very clever-looking set of men they are, and some of them have really +intellectual faces. Most wonderful calculators they are too; the power +they have to tell at a glance how much they have got in their books, +and the way in which they can subdivide the odds at a moment's notice, +is most extraordinary. A marked contrast to these great bookmakers are +the small would-be bookmakers, who rush all about the ring, bothering +anyone they see who has been betting or they think likely to bet, +offering the most absurd odds as an inducement. The first day of any +race-meeting these gentry abound; but by the end of the week most of +them have disappeared, having retired, I suspect, into the outer ring, +and here rascality does flourish. Strangely enough, in passing through +it, you seem to be familiar with most of the betting men's faces, but +you cannot at first remember where you have seen them previously; when +suddenly it flashes across you that you saw most of these faces, or +their own brothers', in the dock at the last criminal assizes; or if +you have been over Portland or Dartmoor prisons, or any of those sort +of places, that you have seen them there. How so many of them exist +seems hard to discover; but I suspect whenever they have drawn their +victims sufficiently, as they consider, they bolt before the race comes +off. Another kind of swindling has arisen lately. You are perhaps +standing somewhere in the ring, when you discover a person is talking +to you, and saying that "Of course you have been backing our stable." +You look at him with some surprise, as he is a complete stranger to +you; whereupon the man, who is usually tolerably well dressed, and +tries to look like a gentleman, apologises for his mistake, "thought +you were So-and-so." But, however, he keeps on talking, and you cannot +shake him off. At length he declares he knows a _certainty_ for the +next race, which you must back, and bothers you so that, to get rid of +him for the time, you give him some money to invest, which he does; and +the tip turning out correct, as it very often does, you get your +money--for the man has no intention of bolting, it would not answer his +purpose. But you shortly find out what has occurred, and how you have +been done. After the race you compare notes with your friends, feeling +rather proud of winning. They ask the price you got, and you say, "O, 4 +to 1." "4 to 1?" say they; "why, his price was 7 to 1." And then the +murder comes out; the scamp got 7 to 1 safe enough, so that he +comfortably pocketed the three extra points, and in this way, until +detected, doubtless makes a very nice thing of it. But he does not +often succeed in drawing the same man twice; and if you take his "tip," +and then insist on getting the odds yourself, his blank face of disgust +is very amusing; but he takes care not to let you do this a second +time. + +At the Spring and Houghton Meetings great amusement is derived from the +strong "'Varsity" contingent; these youths appearing in great force, +got up in the correctest of sporting costumes; some even going so far +as breeches and boots, though they do not as a rule trust themselves +astride a horse at the races, and certainly they get all the excitement +they can require in the short drive from the turn-pike, just off the +Cambridge road, down to the stand. Up to this point, as the road has +been wide and the vehicles not numerous, their erratic mode of driving +has not been of much importance; but here, when they get into the +stream of cabs, &c., going down to the stand, nothing but a 'Varsity +hack in a 'Varsity dog-cart could save them from total and irremediable +grief. But it _is_ a sight to see the knowing old hack seize the +bit between his teeth, and getting his head well down, so as to +neutralise any well-meaning but ill-directed attempt at guidance, tear +down full speed, close in rear of some galloping cab, and land his +passengers, in spite of their exertions, all safe, but rather scared, +at the stand. Then the reckless way these youths bet! To hear them +talk, you would think they were more up in racing matters than the +oldest member of the Jockey Club, instead of being utterly ignorant of +the respective horses, owners, jockeys, or performances; their actual +knowledge never extending to more than the horses' names, and very +often not so far as that even. The amount of "tips" they have is +something wonderful, supplied by their "gyps," I should imagine; and +the best thing one can hope for is, that these gentry may be paid by a +percentage on their master's winnings, for in this case I think the +perennial fountain of tips would soon dry up. + +It is very curious to look down from the stand on to the outer ring +just previously to the starting of the race. You see nothing but a +dense mass of closely-packed hats, and little puffs of smoke rising all +over the mass, making it look just as if it was smouldering, and might +be expected to break out into flames at any moment. One thing that +makes Newmarket so enjoyable is that there is no need of dressing to +within an inch of your life, as you have to do at Ascot and Goodwood. +You see men in comfortable morning and shooting-coats, Norfolk shirts, +or any other kind of loose and easy attire; any one almost who appeared +in a frock-coat and topper would be looked on with the greatest +suspicion. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Many ladies do +not appear here--about a dozen or so in the Jockey Club stand, and a +very few in carriages, are all who attend; but those who are present +seem to enjoy the racing thoroughly, as they too are dressed +reasonably, and are not in continual misery through fear of a shower, +or that the splendour of their costume may be eclipsed by the superior +elegance of a rival, as is too often the case on other racecourses. It +is, indeed, a curious thing to notice how very few ladies or women at +all attend; even the wives and daughters of the neighbouring farmers +are not present, though there are a very sporting lot of them in the +district. In the morning, before racing commences, you do not see any +women at all about in the streets, with the exception of the few who +keep the fruit and vegetable stalls in the main street. + +I have mentioned previously the wonderful edibles offered for sale in +the town; but those brought on to the Heath are stranger still, the +chief of them consisting of acid-drops and butter-scotch. You meet +vendors of these everywhere; and, stranger still, actually see grown +men buying them. Whether they think they will bring them "luck"--and +there is scarcely anything a regular "turfite" would not do if he +thought it would bring him luck--or whether they imagine the taste of +juvenile luxuries will restore the innocence of their youth, I do not +know; but that they buy them and actually eat them is an undoubted +fact. Apples, too, are sold; and once I saw a man selling prawns in the +stand itself. Now fresh prawns for breakfast are very nice, and so is +prawn-curry; but wind- and sun-dried prawns offered for consumption by +themselves in the middle of the day are not very inviting, and I did +not see anyone buy them. At the railway station also, when you are +returning, you find a lot of women hawking ducks and chickens about, +but I never saw anybody buy them. Indeed, it would be rather puzzling +to know what to do with one if you did purchase it. You could not open +your trunk and put it in; and if you did, I do not think it would +travel well with your shirts, &c.; and to sit with a dead duck in your +lap the whole way back to down would be trying. + +Most interesting it is to go in the early morning to the +training-grounds, and look at the racers at exercise. Here you see them +in every stage, from the yearling just being led about quietly with a +lunging rein on to the adult racer taking his final spin, previously to +competing for some stake, and a finer spectacle than this last cannot +be seen: the magnificent animal in perfect condition, his satin coat, +showing the play of the muscles underneath, striding along at his top +speed, untouched by whip or spur, is a perfect picture of beauty. You +see many people out watching the horses, some merely through fondness +for horseflesh, but many of the genus "tout." How people can be found +weak enough to believe in their "tips" it is hard to conceive; for if a +"trial" is properly managed, and the stable secrets well kept, not even +the lads themselves know the weights the horses are run at, or even the +exact distance, so the "tips" of these gentry must be the veriest +guesses possible. They adopt wonderful disguises, under the fallacious +idea that they shall not be detected. There is one constantly to be +seen got up as a clergyman of the Church; and really, if you judged him +by a passing glance, you would think he was some indefatigable pastor +going to visit some sick member of his flock; but if you looked closely +at him, you would see that if he had a flock it would be uncommonly +closely shorn. He might more correctly be termed "a Baptist," so often +has he received the rite by total immersion in a horse-pond, +stable-lads being the officiating ministers, and the frogs at the +bottom his sponsors. + +But there is "a thorn in every rose," and there is a very large one at +Newmarket in the shape of a church, with a squat square tower +containing a peal of the most abominable bells in England, I should +think; they are all about a semitone out of tune, and the effect is +aggravating past description--far worse than the ding-dong-spat of the +three bells you so often hear in old-fashioned village churches, where +two of the bells have no relation in tone to one another, and the third +is cracked. These wretched things jangle and clash for, I should think, +half an hour every day about eleven; and I find the idea among the +aborigines is that they are playing a tune, but the effect of the +performance on a musical ear is excruciating. But, apart from this, few +pleasanter places can be found at which to pass some days than +Newmarket during a fine autumn meeting. + +One word in conclusion. If anyone intends to bet at Newmarket, never +take a Newmarket "tip" unless it is very strongly corroborated +elsewhere; for the true Newmarket man firmly believes, in spite of all +facts to the contrary, that no horse can win unless it has been trained +there, and would rather back the veriest rip in existence hailing from +headquarters than the best possible racer trained elsewhere. + + + + +KATE'S DAY WITH THE OLD HORSE + + +"Yes, Kate, we are as nearly as possible 'stone broke,' as your brother +would say. The time seems to have come, my girl, when 'honour may be +deemed dishonour, loyalty be called a crime,' at any rate in Ireland; +and as we can't make our tenants pay rent, we must go." + +The speaker was a massive-looking old gentleman with clean-cut, +weather-beaten features, and a heavy white moustache. He had drawn his +chair away from the breakfast table, and was still knitting his brows +over his morning letters. + +Poor old Lowry, like his fathers before him, had lived out of doors +amongst his own tenantry all his life, with a joke and a half-crown for +anyone who wanted them. + +Almost all the harm he had ever done was to win a heart or two which he +did not want, or drink a glass or two more than was good for him. For +forty years he had paid rates and taxes, acted conscientiously as a +magistrate, and filled several other onerous but unpaid offices for his +Queen and such as are put in authority under her; he had drunk her +health loyally every night since he first learnt to drink strong drink, +and would have "knocked sparks out of" anyone who had spoken +disrespectfully of her before him; and now the property which his +fathers had honestly earned was left at the mercy of a league of avowed +rebels, and he himself was branded as an enemy of the people. Had he +and such as he been left to defend themselves, they would long ago have +put an end to these enemies of honest men and of the State, but their +hands were tied. They were bidden to wait for help, but no help came. +Lowry was still too loyal to murmur openly against the Government which +had ruined him, but he had just realized that their name and their +loyalty were almost the only things left to him and Kate, his daughter, +who sat playing nervously with an empty envelope and gazing out blankly +and sadly upon the old park she loved until her deep blue eyes filled +unconsciously with tears. + +But Kate was not the girl to indulge in tears when a difficulty had to +be met, and in ten minutes she had mastered her emotion and was walking +with her father to the stables, gravely discussing affairs with the +stalwart old man, more like one man with another than like a young girl +with her father. + +"So the horses are to go up next week, Dad, are they? It is a bit of a +wrench to say good-bye to you, Val," said the girl, as she laid her +hand lovingly on the neck of a great up-standing chestnut, "but you are +good enough to find yourself a situation, my boy. Father, though, what +about Joe? We could not let him go into a cab, and he is too old for +anything better." + +"True, Kate, and I can't bear to shoot the old fellow, and yet what are +_we_ to do with a pensioner now?" + +"Shoot him! No, father, we'll keep the bullets for other billets. A +loyal servant and friend like Joe has as much claim on you as your +daughter has; and whilst we have bread and cheese we can find Joe in +fodder. Poor old fellow, I believe he would rather eat his litter with +us than old oats in a strange stable." + +It was a pretty picture, let latter day æsthetes deny it if they +will--the tall, strong girl, natural and unaffected, not a bit angelic, +but very womanly, caressing the old horse, who lowered his head to meet +her caresses, and shoved his honest old nose against her cheek. + +And Kate was right. It _is_ a hard thing that a horse who has risked +his neck a thousand times for his master, who has never known fear or +spared himself in that master's service, should be thought only fit +for a bullet when his limbs and wind begin to fail. We pension the +half-hearted human servants, we destroy the whole-hearted beasts who +have worn out their youth and strength prematurely in our employ. + +"How are you going to keep Joe, if I let you try, Kate?" + +"Well, father, I ought to be able to make a pound a month by +needlework, Christmas cards, and so forth; there is a bit of land at +the cottage, so that turned out on that in summer and not much worked +in winter, Joe need not cost much to keep, and I'll groom him myself." + +"And what would the London aunts say to that, Kate?" laughed the +squire. + +Kate put a hand trustingly on the old man's shoulder as she answered +smiling, "The London aunts say a good many things, Dad, which I don't +agree with, and you only pretend to, you know. Aunt Dorothy prefers her +carpets to sunshine, at least she keeps her rooms dark all day for fear +the sun should spoil their colours." + +"I thought it was her colour which the sun spoilt, Kate?" + +Kate laughed, and with a squeeze of her father's arm and a saucy nod, +flitted off to see to some member of her animal kingdom. + +Luckily for the Irish, they take trouble well, and though skinning is +an unpleasant process, they soon get used to it. + + * * * * * + +Three months after the events recorded in the preceding paragraphs, +Kate and her father were living at what had been their agent's cottage, +a tiny house with stabling for one horse. The Lowry's agent was now +Colonel Lowry himself, and his daughter (the best and straightest lady +rider in Gonaway) had laid aside her habit as a souvenir of happier +days. + +At the Hall a rich Londoner had replaced the old squire (as his +tenant), and a London young lady inflicted agony on the mouths of such +horses as she rode, and never disgraced her sex by an after-breakfast +visit to the stables. + +Instead of the laughter of that tom-boy Kate, highly finished +performances on the piano frightened the blackbirds off the lawn, and +instead of jokes and half-crowns from a poor but warm-hearted native, +the peasantry now received pamphlets on market gardening and threepenny +pieces from an alien millionaire. + + * * * * * + +"Molly says they have just shot 'the Laurels' for the seventh time this +year, and there's not a hen pheasant left on the estate." + +"Never mind, father, it won't matter to us. Mr Preece will have some +more down from Leadenhall Market or some such place next year; and, +after all, they pay our rent for us, and we couldn't live without +them." + +"Pay the rent," grumbled the squire; "I could have done that myself, if +I'd sold all the game, and never given a head to man or woman on the +place." + +"Then why didn't you, Dad?" + +"Why didn't I, girl? Well then, it's just because I suppose I've always +belonged to 'the stupid party,' thank God for it." + +Poor old Lowry was a red-hot Tory, without any Liberal instincts +whatever, a fact which sufficiently accounted for the mess he had made +of his life. And yet, somehow, the men who dared still to touch their +hats to this reprehensible old robber of the public lands, did so with +a smile in their eyes more hearty than the smirk they gave to his +successor, Mr Preece. + +Since the first day we met her, a change has come over Kate. The +grey-blue eyes are just as beautiful, but there is less sparkle in +them; the lips are just as sweet, sweeter it may be, but the dimple has +gone. In the last few months she has seen more of the seamy and shabby +side of life than she had even guessed at in the twenty sunny years +which went before. + +I don't think the squire has any suspicion of it, and Kate has neither +mother nor sister to tell it to, but her poor little heart has had its +stoutness tried a good deal of late. When Kate was queen at the Hall, +gallant George Vernon, somewhile captain of Hussars, and at present +master of the hounds and Kate's very distant cousin, had remembered the +tie of kinship to the bright young beauty quite as often as duty +required. Now his visits were like angel's visits in number and, to the +proud Kate, far less welcome. + +George Vernon was no snob, but then Kate, the hostess at the Hall, the +reigning queen in the hunting-field, and Kate without a horse to her +name, in a cottage and out of the world altogether, were very different +persons, and George unconsciously showed that he felt the change. +Though man is fickle, perhaps George would not have allowed his +admiration for his cousin to cool so suddenly had there not been +attractions elsewhere. + +Miss Preece (the daughter of the new tenant at the Hall) would have +passed as a pretty woman anywhere. If lemon-coloured locks, an abundant +fringe, bright colour, and the full, tempting figure of a young Juno, +make beauty, then Polly Preece was a belle. If reckless riding and a +smart habit make a horsewoman, Polly Preece was a very Amazon. + +True she had never had a fall; true her horses cost three hundred +guineas apiece, and were clever enough to jump through hoops at a +circus, even though they had ten stone of fair humanity hung on to +their tortured mouths; and true, too, that though Polly laughed often +(and showed in doing so as dazzling a set of teeth as ever disappointed +a dentist), few people owed even a smile to any wit of hers. + +But the Bruisers (as the men of the Gonaway hounds were called) voted +her a right good sort, if only she would give them a little more time +at their fences and not always pick the tenderest part of a man to jump +upon. + +George Vernon did the civil at first as Master. In a week's time he was +her pilot, and in a month half a dozen of the Bruisers were sadly +afraid that he would ere long be her husband, thereby robbing them of +the greatest prize in the local market of matrimony and of the merriest +bachelor in the hunt. As for George himself, he thought honestly enough +that the Preece girl was "very good fun," but if he could have had her +dollars without her he would have been a happy man. Unfortunately, +circumstances, especially the bills connected with the maintenance of a +crack pack of fox-hounds, were beginning to impress upon him more and +more the necessity for converting Miss Preece into a connecting link +between himself and her papa's money bags. + +This was, roughly, the state of affairs on Monday, November 2nd, 1885, +the first regular meet of the Bruisers for the season. + +It was a time-honoured custom that the first meet should be held at the +Hall, and though the master of the house who had entertained them so +often was there no longer, still the house stood and the custom +remained. + + * * * * * + +"I suppose you would hardly care to go to the meet to-day, Dad?" +queried Kate at breakfast. + +"Not go to the meet, girl, after keeping the old tryst so many years, +why not?" + +"Oh, I don't know, only I thought you might not." + +"What, because another fellow provides the sherry and is master at the +Hall? Of course I don't like it, but providing he does not give the men +Hamburg stuff, I'll go and be thankful to him for doing what I can no +longer afford to do. Put on a leather petticoat, little woman, and +we'll run with them since we can't ride." + +I think the old man struck the match to light his pipe a shade more +viciously than was necessary, but he never winced, though he was +perhaps remembering another 2nd of November when the little woman was +yet unborn, and he himself on the best horse in the country was as good +a man "as ever holloaed to a hound," and in one fair woman's eyes the +best. + +Suddenly he put down his pipe and called, "Kate." + +"Yes, father." + +"Come down again for a minute." + +"All right, in half a second;" and almost as soon as she had promised +Kate was in the room again. + +"What is your will, sir?" said she with a little mocking courtesy. + +"Why, child, I was thinking that you at any rate might ride to the +meet. Your habit is packed away somewhere; Joe looked yesterday as fit +as paint, and, as Tim expressed it, 'is brimful of consate.' I declare +he has waxed fat and kicks, to the serious detriment of his old +tumble-down box." + +"No, father, if you don't ride, I shan't. If you run, so shall I." + +"Do as you are bid, Kate, or rather, since you never do that, ride if +it is only half-a-dozen fences, just to please your old father, and to +show that young woman at the Hall the difference between riding and +being carried, between hands and paws." + +Those who loved Kate best would always have been the first to admit +that she had just "the laste bit of the divvle in her, God bless her," +and hence it was perhaps that her father's diplomatic suggestion as to +the eclipse of her rival brought the colour to her cheek and the light +to her eyes. + +"Do you really want me to, father?" + +"Really, really, Kate, and now let us go and have a look at Joe." + + * * * * * + +I am ashamed to say how old Joe was. Like ladies, horses don't care to +have their ages published on every house-top, and though they cannot +lie for themselves on this important point, they have no difficulty in +finding many to lie for them. + +Joe was said to have been eight when the Lowrys bought him, and they +had ridden the gallant brown for seven years. But eight is a queer +age in a horse, as expansive and uncertain as the adjective "young" +when applied to spinsters. At the lowest computation Joe was not less +than fifteen, and a "vet." who wanted to buy him once pledged his +professional credit that he was twenty-six at least. Be this as it may, +when an hour later he walked out of his loose box, he looked the very +type and _beau idéal_ of a twelve-stone hunter. From the carriage of +his lean game head and trimly-docked tail, from the cheery snort with +which he welcomed the fresh air, from the muscle on his square and +massive quarters, from his hard, clean legs and full, bold eye, you +might have fancied he was a six-year-old. A veteran strapper who had +followed the squire from the Hall to the cottage, had spent an hour in +dressing the old horse, and the squire's own hands had put the +finishing touches to his toilette. Proud and gay the old rascal looked +before his mistress mounted, but when she was in the saddle he gave one +wild kick from mere exuberance of spirits and then trotted out of the +yard, as old Tim expressed it, "for all the world as if he was tridding +on eggs." + + * * * * * + +"Ye gods! she is a dazzler! Quite takes my breath away," said a +shiny-hatted, faultlessly-breeched stranger from Dublin to a young +local Nimrod; "why, there are not half-a-dozen girls, even with the +Meath, who have ventured out yet in Busvine's scarlet array, and here +is a young lady in the wilds of Gonaway with a seat like a sack of +potatoes and raiment more magnificent than Solomon in all his glory." + +"Fits her well for all that, and suits her style, milk and roses and +that sort of thing, you know," replied the local, himself rather a +captive to the fair equestrienne. + +"Milk and roses! Milk and fiddlestick! Lemon and white I should +describe her if she was in the setter class; but tell me, who is she, +and has she any money?" + +Needless, perhaps, to explain that poor Polly Preece was the subject of +this irreverent banter, which in a measure perhaps she had deserved, +for though a pretty woman in "the lady's pink" is a fair picture in a +showy frame, she must not be hurt if she is a little stared at on her +first appearance. And, indeed, Polly was not hurt. On the contrary she +was flattered and in high spirits. Her new jacket fitted her to +perfection; her horse was well-mannered and easy to ride; she had drawn +the attention of every one to her sweet self, and she felt for the +moment that "blues" or fear had for her neither existence nor meaning. + +A large group of late comers was still standing in the doorway and on +the broad steps of the hall, chaffing each other or pledging their host +in a last stirrup cup. + +"What is that madcap daughter of mine about now?" exclaimed old Preece, +as Polly broke from the throng and sent her horse along over the turf +at a rattling gallop, followed by two or three of her admirers. + +From the steps to the line of elms no fence was visible to the +spectators, and yet before reaching the avenue, three of the horses +rose at something, and the fourth and his rider seemed to be swallowed +up. + +"Good heavens! young Voyle is down in the Park fence," cried Preece; +and sure enough the exquisite from Dublin shortly after emerged from +the abyss, his hat crushed, his breeches smirched, and his temper +somewhat soured by the loss of a good horse. + +"Really, Mr Preece, you must curb that young lady's pluck; she will +break her neck some day if you don't take care," suggested an elderly +friend. + +"Break her neck," growled old Preece; "it isn't pluck, it is folly; +wait until she has had a fall; you'll see she will learn better." + +Kate had been sitting a quiet spectator of this little episode, though +the old horse had backed and fidgetted with impatient desire to join in +the fun. + +As Polly rode back from the fence she caught sight of Kate, and with +that sweetness which women show to rivals they detest, wreathed her +face in smiles and laid a caressing hand on Joe's mane. + +"Oh, Kate, how glad I am to see you out! I wish, dear, you had let me +know that you meant to come. You might have ridden Dennis or my bay. I +am afraid your dear old horse is almost past work now!" + +"Doesn't look like it, does he, Miss Preece?" retorted Kate, as Joe +champed his bit and pawed the velvet turf. Polly hated to be called +Miss Preece by Kate, and would fain have passed for her bosom friend; +but Kate unfortunately chose her own friends for herself, and Polly was +not of them. + +"Cousin Kate is a rare believer in the old horse," remarked George +Vernon as he joined the two girls. + +"Yes," assented Polly, "your cousin is a very antiquary; she likes +everything that is old, and only what is old. She has even spoken +slightingly of this miracle of Mr Busvine's. From politics to +petticoats, Miss Lowry is a Tory, like her father!" + +"I admit all you say, Miss Preece, and glory in it. I do prefer old +habits, sartorial and otherwise, to any others." + +There was a deepening in the blue of Kate's eyes as this word-play went +on, which looked as if she was more than half in earnest. + +"Well, I don't agree with you, and for the sake of example I will back +my young chestnut against your veteran in the field to-day," quoth +Polly. + +"Oh, come, Miss Preece, that's hardly fair," broke in George; six +against twenty-six, isn't it, Kate?" + +"It may be, Cousin George, but the old horse can quite take care of +himself, thank you. Yes, I'll match my old one against your chestnut, +owners up; who is to be judge?" + +"Would you mind, Captain Vernon?" pleaded Polly. + +"No, certainly. What are the stakes?" + +"Oh, say a pair of gloves; I am too much of a pauper to make the bet in +dozens," replied Kate, and so the bet was made. + + * * * * * + +The morning was a bright one, with a touch of hoar frost on the grass, +which none but the early risers saw. + +At 11.15 the rime had all gone, and the air was as "balmy as May," the +sun shone brightly, and men's spirits were as brilliant as the weather. + +But the first draw was a long one, and a blank. The second was like it, +and again no noisy note replied to what Captain Pennell Elmhirst calls +"the huntsman's tuneful pleading." + +Faces began to lengthen. A blank at Tod Hall had never been heard of in +the memory of man. The gentlemen in velveteen who had taken a somewhat +prominent part in the morning's proceedings had disappeared by noon, +and men spoke disparagingly of the race which some sportsmen aver is a +compound of policeman and poacher. + +It was easy by two o'clock to tell the men who rode horses from those +who only "talked horse." + +The "customers" were all looking grim and silent; the men of the road +were brightly conversational, and sat in groups discussing their cigars +and whisky flasks at every point from which they could not possibly +see, should the hounds slip quietly and suddenly away. + +The little group near the corner of the covert had grown weary of +waiting. The glow which follows a sharp trot to covert on your +favourite hack, and the consumption of "just one glass" of orange +brandy, had worn off, and the damp chill of a November afternoon had +begun to pierce through the stoutest of pinks and to chill the gayest +of hearts. + +The horses had fretted themselves into a white lather with impatience, +or stood with drooping heads and staring coats, mute witnesses to the +chill which had come with afternoon and hope deferred. Everything +suggested that fox-hunting was an overrated amusement. + +Little by little the hounds had drawn away from the Hall and its +overstocked coverts, until now, at 2 P.M., they were thrown into a +small outlying wood, where pheasants were never reared and rarely shot. + +At last there was a doubtful whimper; then a hard-looking man in mufti +(a local horse dealer) stood up in his stirrups and held his hat high +above his head. A dozen keen pair of eyes saw the signal, and though no +foolish halloa imperilled their chance of a run, the light and colour +came back into the men's faces, and they forgot in a moment the +miseries of the morning as they marked the lithe red form of reynard +steal out of covert, and with a whisk of his grey-tagged brush, make +off leisurely, with his head set straight for the stiffest line in the +county. + +By this time the first doubtful whimper had been caught up and repeated +in fuller and more certain tones, and there was little need of the horn +to call loiterers from covert. + +One after another the beauties tumbled out in hot haste, hackles up. +For one moment each seemed to dwell as he cleared the brakes, and then +with a rush they gathered to where old Monitor had the line under the +lee of a grey stone wall, along which the whole pack glanced, swift and +close packed as wild fowl on the wing, while the keen November air +thrilled with the maddest, merriest music that ever made a sportsman's +blood tingle in his veins. + +The wild freshness of the morning, with its bright sunshine, had given +place to frost, and men settled grimly down to their work with the +conviction that with such a burning scent and an afternoon fox few +would live with hounds to the finish. + +The field was never a large one from the start. None but those who got +away at once had a chance of seeing the run, for the first mile was +ridden at racing pace over a lovely grass country, with nothing to stop +hounds or men save low stone walls, over which they slipped without a +rattle like the phantoms of a dream. Amongst those still with hounds at +the end of the first mile were the two ladies and the master. Polly's +red jacket had followed George Vernon as the needle follows the +magnet--a little too closely, perhaps, for the comfort of the magnet. +Kate had been in trouble on the right, her old horse, fresh and mad +with excitement and out of temper with the long restraint of the +morning, had got his ears laid flat back and the bit in his teeth. + +For the moment the temperate habits of past years were forgotten, and +poor Kate, with arms aching and powerless, felt herself flashing over +stout stone walls at a pace which would have been dangerous over sheep +hurdles. + +Polly's chestnut, on the contrary, was behaving in a manner which would +have done credit to the best horse in Galway or with the Heythrop, +steadying himself at every wall and popping over with the least +possible exertion to himself or risk to his rider. + +And now five of the "pursuers" were in one field, grass beneath their +feet and a fair stone wall without a gap in it in front. + +All except Polly probably noticed the rushes which grew in tiny bunches +beneath the wall, and guessed from them and from the sudden dip of the +land that the take-off would be a boggy one. + +In vain Kate tried to get a pull at her horse. On the left Vernon and +Polly had got over with a scramble. One man was down, and a second felt +that the roan was worth another fifty at least for the way he kicked +himself clear of the dirt. + +With a rush which would have landed him well on the other side of +twenty feet of water, the brown went at the highest place he could find +in the wall. Kate knew what must come, but hardened her heart and faced +it. As the old horse tried to rise, he stuck in the heavy bog. There +was a crash; for a moment everything spun round, and Kate was down with +a stunning fall. + +Had anyone seen her, of course even the run of the season would have +been given up to render her assistance, but her only companions in this +particular field had the lead of her, and the side walls hid her from +other people's view, besides which Kate Lowry was one who had long +since established her right to look after herself in the hunting-field. + +For a minute or two the slim girl's figure lay prone and motionless on +the damp turf, while her horse stood by, hanging his wise old head +regretfully over the ruin he had made. Then the girl raised herself on +her elbow, pushed the fair hair out of her eyes, and sitting up, looked +into the old horse's wistful face with a half smile. + +"You old fool, Joe!" she said; "you ought to have known better at your +time of life." + +Rising to her feet, she leaned her head for a moment on her saddle, +pressing her hand to her side as if in pain, and then backing her horse +so that he stood close alongside the wall, she climbed slowly and with +difficulty back into the saddle. + +"I wonder how long we lay under that wall, Joe?" soliloquized Kate, as +she walked him through a gap in the next wall; "and I wonder, too, +where the hounds are, and if I must give it up and let that Preece girl +beat me?" + +Listening intently, she sat for a moment by the roadside, the old +horse's ears pricked keenly forward. At last she thought she heard +hounds running, it seemed, to her right. Without a moment's hesitation +she turned Joe round, and, sobered by his fall, that mud-besmeared +veteran popped over the wall as cleverly as a cat, only to be reined up +short as he lit, for there, streaming over another wall, were the whole +pack, going as keenly and as fiercely now as in the first three fields. +With them were only two horsemen, the master and the man in mufti. + +As the three joined forces, George noticed for the first time his +cousin's white face and muddy garments. + +"Why, Kate, where have you been? Not hurt, I hope?" and though the +words were curt and simple, the expression in his face was less +careless than it might have been. + +"No, thanks; more mud than bruises, I think. Where is Miss Preece?" + +"Rolled off in the only piece of plough in the county, and seems to +have taken root there," laughed the ungallant M.F.H. + +"No damage done, I hope?" said Kate. + +"Hurt? No. Her clever chestnut put his feet into a furrow and stumbled, +_la belle_ Polly rolled off, and though we put her up again, she +seemed to have had enough, especially as she believed that you had +given up the chase some time since." + +"Oh, indeed," laughed Kate, a little grimly. "You see hers was her +_first_ fall; it makes a difference." + +And now the conversation dropped. Each of those three riders had his or +her hands full for the time. The fox in front of them was, indeed, a +straight-necked one. Save for the one turn which had given Kate a +second chance, he had gone straight as the crow flies since the find. +Save for a check of a short five minutes, the hounds had run almost as +if they were coursing him, and it was already a full half-hour since +the find, and the spire of Kempford church was now visible on the +right. At the back of Kempford village was a well-known drain, in which +more than one stout fox had found safety. For this reynard seemed to be +making, and to judge of the frequency with which each of the three +horses rattled their walls as they skimmed over them, his pursuers were +hardly likely to get there even if he was. + +But between the Kempford drain and him there ran the deep and broad +stream of the Cheln, unfordable, and rarely, if ever, crossed (save by +a bridge) in the annals of fox-hunting. As the three neared the river, +they were (thanks to a lucky turn) in the same field with the hounds. + +"By Jove, there he is," cried the "dealer," breaking silence for the +first time, and there, sure enough, dragging his gallant but draggled +person up the bank opposite was poor "pug," in full view of the pack. +No otter hounds ever took water more savagely than did old Monitor and +his comrades, almost whining with impatience to close with their +gallant foe. + +"Kate, for God's sake, don't try it," cried Vernon. + +It was too late; the old horse had already been driven in, and the +first woman who ever swam a horse across the Cheln was already battling +with the stream, her lips hard set, her grey-blue eyes full of fire, +and her whole face recalling vividly for the moment, in spite of its +natural softness, the stern outlines of those ancestors whose war-worn +profiles adorned the long galleries of the Hall. + +It was a difficult swim, but old Joe's limbs were borne up bravely by +the brave heart within, and it was not till long after the dripping +habit had been dried that it occurred to Kate that, like Lord Cardigan, +she had forgotten that she could not swim. + +The M.F.H. and his cousin were now the only two left with the hounds, +and in front of them rose, perhaps, the worst fence in the Gonaway +country, a stiff stone wall, the stones all firmly morticed, and on the +top a row of rough-edged slabs set on end like the teeth of a saw. +Under the take-off side ran a deep, little stream, nowhere less than +six feet wide, and even at that the banks were undermined and unsafe. + +The cousins were alongside in the field which this mantrap bounded. +Every atom of colour had left her cheeks now, and her lips were white +with pain. Had George's whole heart and mind not been in the chase, he +must have seen, and insisted on her returning home. As it was, he only +said, "They've killed him, Kate; I must have it and save a bit of the +best fox I ever hunted." And if hounds' tongues could be believed, they +had indeed at last pulled the gallant old fox down, though the rugged +piece of masonry before alluded to hid the pack from view. + +"Is there no other way, George?" + +"No, don't you follow me; go back by the lane and I'll bring you the +brush if I can save it." + +So saying, the master turned his horse and set himself at the place +where the wall looked lowest. Kate had been bred in a hunting country, +but truth to tell, her heart hung on that leap. + +"One thrust to his hat and two to the sides of his brown," and then he +shot to the front, seat steady and hands well down. Right bravely the +horse rose at the leap, but the bank broke as he rose, his knees caught +the coping stone with a jarring thud, and man and horse lay stunned on +the other side. + +To the wild cry of "George, George!" no answer came back, and then it +was for the first time that poor Kate knew how irretrievably her heart +had been lost to her dashing cousin. + +To gallop to the gate was useless, though she essayed it. The gate was +six barred and locked, moreover, the wall and its guarding stream still +ran on beyond the gate. Kate had lost her head and her heart, but not +her pluck. + +"Just one more try, Joe," she whispered, and with a rush that seemed +born of the last energies of a gallant heart the brave old horse faced +and cleared the coping stone. Many fresh horses might have cleared that +wall; but they talk of that leap still in Gonaway. Nearly five feet of +hard stone and a biggish brook in front was no small feat, they say, +for a tired horse, even with bonny Kate Lowry on his back. + +Under the wall lay the grey, stone dead, and under him George Vernon, +his white face looking up at the sky now darkly bright with the frost +of a November evening. + +How Kate got her cousin from under his horse and watched the colour +creep back to his bronzed cheek, no one knows, for she kept these +things in her own sweet heart, but it was late in the evening that a +party sent out to search met an old woman leading along a donkey cart, +on which lay poor Vernon, his leg and collar bone broken, while beside +him sat a lady, her face white with pain, which her colour alone +betrayed, and after them came a yokel leading old Joe, and followed by +the best pack in Ireland. + +The day had one more event in store for the villagers of Kempford. +Arrived at the inn, Kate Lowry did what no Lowry had ever been known to +do before--she fainted. On recovering, she shame-facedly exclaimed, "I +think I must have broken something when I fell at the beginning of the +run, and it has hurt me rather ever since." + +She had broken something. No more nor less than three ribs; but if she +had refused a humble prayer made to her three weeks later she would +have broken something more important--"the heart" of the M.F.H. for +Gonaway, who to this day may be heard to declare "that there is no +pluck like a woman's, and I ought to know, for I married the pluckiest +girl in old Ireland." + + + + +SOME CURIOUS HORSES + +BY CAPTAIN R. BIRD THOMPSON + + +I fancy that I must have possessed as curious a lot of horses as has +fallen to the lot of most men--occasioned partly by the fact that +friends who, whenever they had a particularly queer-tempered or vicious +brute, were in the habit of either presenting it to me as a gift, or +offering it for a mere song; partly through my having bought several +with peculiar reputations; and, lastly, I think that it must have been +predestined that I was to be the owner of these sort of animals. My +first pony, which my father bought for me when I was six years old, was +purchased from a gentleman who parted with it because it always ran +away with his children and kicked them off. The pony, however, never +did this with me, although playing the same trick with almost everyone +else. One thing, I petted it very much, and it really was fond of me. + +It was a wonderful pony. What its age was I do not know, but it was in +my possession for twenty-two years, and was said to be an old one when +my father bought it. Its death at last was brought on by eating a +quantity of half-ripe apples. Having been turned out into an orchard, a +sudden gale in the night knocked down a great many of them, and the old +fellow ate such a lot that they brought on an attack in his stomach, +which killed him in a few hours. + +I had one very queer-tempered horse given to me. A friend, a great +hunting man, wrote and asked me to come up and lunch with him and talk +over some intended "meets." I accepted the invitation, and went up to +his house. After lunch he proposed a stroll over his stables. As we +were going over them we came to a horse in a stall quite away from the +rest of the stud. My friend asked me if I did not know it. I, however, +did not recognise the horse, as it had a longish coat on, and he then +told me that it was one that a Mr Goldsmidt had given 500 guineas for +about a year previously, and, finding it too much for him, had +presented it to my friend. "Now," said he, "I will give it to you, and +if you will not have the animal I shall send it to the kennel +to-morrow." I, as may be imagined, was greatly surprised, as the horse +was considered to be one of the best hunters in England. Its legs +seemed quite fresh and generally all right, so far as I could see. +Thinking that I could send it to the kennel as well as he could, if it +turned out useless, I accepted the gift with thanks. + +Just as we were leaving the stables, my friend dropped back, and I +overheard him say to a groom, "Take that horse down to Captain T----'s +stables _at once_." Well, thought I, there is some screw loose--and a +pretty big one I fancy. + +On reaching home, late in the afternoon, my groom met me and said, "The +new horse has come, sir; but he seems a pretty queer one." I went round +to the stables at once, and there I found the horse looking very wild, +his eyes almost standing out of his head, and he himself as far back +out of his stall as his halter-rein would allow, though not hanging on +it. I went up and began to talk to him, and at length he seemed +quieter, and his eye did not look so wild; at last he let me hold his +head-stall. I then patted and coaxed him as much as possible, and +gradually got him up into his stall. Just as I had succeeded in this, +the groom came with the evening feed. Directly the horse saw him, he +began to make a roaring noise, more like a bull than anything else. +Fortunately I had hold of his head-stall, or I think he would have +damaged the man. On loosening his head, thinking he would feed quietly, +he snapped at the corn just as a terrier does at a rat, catching up a +mouthful and then dropping it. I at last managed to slide slowly out of +his stall, and left him for the night. + +The next day I sent for some men to clip him. They did their work very +well, but I subsequently heard that they declared they would never +touch him again; they would as soon clip a Bengal tiger. + +Soon after this I had him out for a ride and discovered another of his +amiable peculiarities. Whenever he met or passed a conveyance of any +sort, he kicked out at it most furiously; I suppose that some time or +other he had been struck when passing something. It was a most +dangerous trick, and took a very long time and great patience to +overcome. However, at last I cured him. + +Another peculiarity that he had was his great objection to my mounting +him when in uniform. He did not mind it in the least when I was once in +the saddle, and took not the slightest notice of my sword rattling +against his ribs; but he could not bear the act of mounting. I used to +have him blindfolded at first, but afterwards, by always petting him, +giving him sugar, &c., he lost his dislike to being mounted. + +One morning, sometime after I had had him, my groom sent in word that +the new horse had kicked his stall all to pieces, and, on going into +the stable, I found he had done it and no mistake. There was scarcely a +piece of the strong oak partitions bigger than one's hand; they were +literally smashed. What made him do it I cannot imagine; he never tried +it again. Strangely enough, after all this violent kicking, the only +place where he had marked himself was a little bit not bigger than a +florin on his near fetlock, where he had knocked off the hair. + +One trick he had of which I never cured him. This was when out hunting. +When taking the first fence, on landing he invariably kicked up as high +as he could. Often and often when he seemed particularly quiet I +thought, "Well, old fellow, you surely won't kick to-day": but, as +certainly as the fence came, so surely did he kick--but never except at +the first fence. + +As a hunter he was perfection, and never, with one exception, refused a +fence with me. On that occasion I felt that I was not certain about +taking it. I was late at the meet, and the hounds had slipped off +down-wind, so my only chance of getting the run was by a lucky nick in. +I was riding to a point that I thought they would make to, and had just +jumped over into a lane and was riding at the fence on the opposite +side, when I caught sight of a man in pink riding down the lane. I +turned my head quickly to look at him, and the horse feeling the slight +motion I suppose, and thinking that I was going to join the man swerved +round, but, on my turning his head to the fence again, he took it at +once. This was the only time he ever swerved at or refused a fence. + +I lost him in a very curious way. I was out hunting one day when the +going was very deep and bad, and we were galloping through a piece of +plough. At the top of the field was a cut quickset hedge and a gate. I +rode at the latter, thinking that the ground would be sounder there, +and the jump would not take so much out of my horse. When I got to the +gate, he rose at it, and then made a tremendous effort to draw his +hind-legs out of the deep mud. Not meeting the resistance he expected, +his hind-legs flew up so that he landed on the other side almost in a +perpendicular position, his tail brushing my hat, and for a moment I +really thought he would fall over on me. However he came down +apparently all right and cantered a few yards into the next field, when +he made a most extraordinary flounder and stopped. I jumped off at +once, and found him sitting up, just as you often see a dog, with his +fore-legs straight out and his hind ones at right angles to his body. +In a minute or so he rolled over on his side. I tried to get him up, +but he did not move. A veterinary surgeon who was out, seeing that +something was wrong, came up, and, on examining him, declared that his +back was broken. And so it proved to be: the violent jerk of his +hind-legs had done it. Of course I had to have him shot at once. I was +very sorry to lose him, as he was such a perfect hunter. + +Another of my horses I bought from the farmer who bred him; he was a +black, nearly thoroughbred, and a very fine-looking animal. I had often +seen his owner riding him to market and other places, nearly always at +a hand-gallop, and the horse never appeared heated or even blown. I had +also seen him in the hunting field. After purchasing him, I tried him +over some fences that had been made for the purpose in one of my +fields, and he jumped fairly for a young one, so I took him out with +the hounds when they met in an easy country. The first thing I put him +at was a small gate; but this he would not have, so I set him at a low, +dry stone wall, which he cleared well. So he did also the next two or +three fences; but on coming to another he did not make the slightest +effort to jump--simply ran at it, and blundered through it somehow. The +next fence, in spite of my shaking him up and letting him have the +spurs pretty smartly, he did in the same way, then cleared one fairly; +but on my putting him at a bar-way he never rose at all, but went full +tilt at it and smashed it to bits. I was a good deal disgusted at these +performances, but tried him another day, a friend saying I did not +rouse him sufficiently. Anyhow, this next time I did so, but it had no +effect. He scrambled his fences in just the same way, never, however, +coming down. After this I lent him to my friend (who thought I did not +ride him with sufficient resolution) for a day's hunting by way of a +trial; and the horse signalised himself so that I determined to part +with him. He had gone on in his usual way until we came to a brook +about twelve feet wide, but deep. I jumped it all right, and looked +back to see how my friend fared. The brute of a horse did not attempt +to clear it, but actually galloped into it, turning a complete +somersault, so that he actually scrambled out on the same bank he came +from. Fortunately my friend got his feet out of the stirrups, feeling +that the animal would not clear it, and was flung on the opposite bank, +merely getting his legs wet. After this I sent the brute to +Tattersall's, and got a very good price for him on account of his make +and shape; in fact, you could not see a finer-looking hunter nor ride a +greater impostor. + +Another curious animal I had I bought quite accidentally. + +It was at Newmarket during a July Meeting, and one morning I strolled +up to the paddocks where the sales were going on, expecting to see +there a friend I wished to meet. On walking up to the ring, a very fine +horse was being led slowly round; it was evidently quite quiet, went +round the ring like any old sheep; but scarcely any bids and those very +low ones, were being made for it. Catching the auctioneer's eye, I gave +a bid, and, not seeing my friend, walked off. Just as I had got to the +gate one of the auctioneer's clerks ran after me and asked where they +should take my horse to. I denied having bought one; but the man +persisted, so I went back and found the horse had actually been knocked +down to me, the auctioneer telling me it was really cheap for +dogs'-meat at the price I had given. The horse was sent down to my +trainer's, and, meeting him later on in the day on the course, he said, +"Well, sir, so you bought Vulcan?" I told him how it occurred, at which +he was much amused, and, on my asking him some questions, told me he +was a splendid horse--wonderfully bred and looking all over like +galloping, but that he never would try. He had no pride, he said, and +would lob along in the ruck as happily as possible. He had been in lots +of stakes, but no one could do anything with him; he would make a +waiting race with a mule they said. + +It was a most curious case. The horse seemed to have every requisite of +make, shape, and action, and yet could not be induced to try to race. +It appeared to make no difference whether the rest of the things were +in front of him or if they came up and passed him; he kept on about the +same pace, and would not try to race. If punishment was attempted, the +horse showed such evident symptoms of temper that it was not safe to +continue it. + +At last he was used by the trainer as a hack, and, in his absence, +taken out by the head lad, when out to superintend the gallops. + +I had almost forgotten his existence, when one day I received a letter +from my trainer asking me to come down to Newmarket the next day by a +mid-day train, when I should find a hack waiting for me at the station, +and that he would be at the New Stand, on the race-course side, to meet +me, as he wished me to see a trial. + +I of course went down and met my trainer at the Stand. After a little +conversation, we cantered off to the place where the trial was to come +off, and stationed ourselves at the spot fixed for the winning-post. He +then gave a signal, and shortly I saw four horses galloping towards us +and keeping pretty fairly together until perhaps about two lengths off, +when one of them came away from the others, leaving them almost as if +they were standing still. "Well," I said, "of course I don't know what +the weights are, but that is as hollow a thing as I ever saw. What +horse is that?" I asked. To my intense surprise, he said, "Vulcan." +"How in the world did you get him to gallop?" said I. "That's rather a +curious story," replied the man. "We found it out quite by accident. I +was away last week for a day or two looking at some very promising +yearlings in Dorsetshire, and Jackson (the head lad) took out the +string, riding Vulcan as hack. They were exercising on the Bury side, +and a boy who was going rook-tending passed by. Boy-like, when he saw +the horses cantering, he blew his horn--to try to give them a start, I +suppose. None of them minded it except Vulcan, and he clapped his legs +under him and bolted off with Jackson as hard as he could go. When I +came back next day he told me about it, but did not seem to think +anything of it. However, it struck me differently, so I went and found +the boy and told him to come to me the next day with his horn--which he +did. I took the string out, and told the boy to blow as we passed him. +He did so, and Vulcan again bolted clear away, past all the other +horses. So I felt sure I had found out how to make him go, and to-day +if you noticed (which I had not) a boy blew a horn as they passed him +and the horse again came away, though the others did their best, and he +was giving them from 2 lb. to 4 lb." + +"You certainly have found out how to make him gallop," I said; "but I +don't see how you are always to have a trumpeter about after him." "I +think it can be managed," he replied. "I want you to enter him for the +Handicap Steeple Stakes at the next meeting. He will only have a +feather to carry, and at the time of the race, if you could be with the +boy about the T.Y.C. winning-post, and, as the horses come by, tell him +to blow, it won't be noticed in the least." + +The horse was duly entered and I performed my part, and he won with +consummate ease. The scene afterwards in the Birdcage when I went in to +see him weighed was most amusing. Everybody was rushing up to me to +find out how he had been treated; the most wonderful stories were set +about as to the quantity of whisky and port wine that had been +administered to the horse, but the facts were as I have stated. He won +in the same way and with the same ease in July behind the Ditch. After +this we tried him without the horn, and he went fairly, so I put him +into a selling race, which he won, and I sold him for a very fair +price. I did not hear much of him afterwards, but believe he got back +to his old tricks. + +Another horse that I bought I knew to be a reprobate when I purchased +him. He was a very fine racehorse, and had run well in the +Derby--fourth or fifth, I think--and afterwards won several very +valuable stakes; but in some of his last races he was severely +punished, and this quite upset his temper. He became savage; then he +was operated on and turned sulky, and at last developed a curious trick +(no one seemed to know exactly how he managed it) of getting rid of his +jockeys, nearly causing the death of his rider on two or three +occasions. He was sent to Tattersall's to be sold, with various other +"weed-outs" from his owner's stable. + +I bought him thinking that he might make a steeplechaser, as rogues on +the flat often develop into good "'chasers." + +Being anxious to find out how he got rid of his riders, a day or so +after I had him I ordered him to be saddled, and, mounting him myself, +I took him into a thirty-acre field of light plough, thinking, if I got +a fall, it would not hurt there. I wanted to find out what he could do, +telling my groom to watch carefully and see what his manoeuvre was. + +Well, I just walked him round the field several times, and he went as +quietly as possible; then I trotted him, and still everything was +pleasant, and I began to think that the change of scene and course had +produced its effect. Next I put him into a canter. At this pace he did +not go quite so well, and evidently was looking out for something; but +at last he appeared to have settled fairly into his canter. Then, +catching hold of his head, I just touched with the spur to make him +gallop, when, without a moment's notice, I was sent out of the saddle +like a stone from a catapult. When I got up, the brute was trotting +away in the opposite direction to that in which I had been riding. I +very soon caught him, and going down to my groom, asked him what on +earth the horse had done. I need hardly say the man had not seen him. +Of course, he said he fancied he heard someone calling just then and +looked round; the fact being that, seeing the horse go quietly at +first, he thought it was all right, and never took the trouble to +watch. + +As I was determined to find out the trick, I made my groom mount him. +The man rather funked it, and said he had no spurs on; so I gave him +mine, and he mounted and went off. However, his reign was not long. +Starting in a canter, he tried to gallop the horse, and touched him +with the spurs, whereupon the brute shot out a fore-leg and spun round +on it just as if he had been a teetotum. Of course, the man flew off, +just as I had done. However I saw clearly that he would not bear the +spur, and this seemed to be the secret. I mounted him again, without +spurs, and rode him round and round for a considerable time, and got +him to gallop by degrees, but in a very sulky way. If I attempted to +rise in my stirrups, or even move my heel towards his side, I felt he +was preparing for his dodge; however, I did not give him a second +chance. + +After this I rode him regularly every day for an hour or more in the +plough, and, finding he was not touched with the spur the horse went +fairly freely. Next I took him out with my groom, riding a steady old +hunter, and tried him over some small plain fences on a ground I had +for schooling horses. He took to the work at once, and became very +clever, and, as it was quite clear that his temper would hinder him +from being a 'chaser, I rode him with the hounds, and a finer hunter +never existed; but I never rode him with spurs, and always had to +remember not to touch him with my heels. If I moved them towards him I +felt him begin to screw up; but he never required pressing--he was so +very free and fast. He never, however, forgot his old tricks, and a +very favourite amusement of the youngsters in the district was when +they met anyone who was bumptious about his riding to offer to bet him +that he would not gallop a certain horse round a paddock three times. +Then they got me to lend them my old friend. It is quite needless to +say that no one ever did succeed in sitting him three times round, as +they were sure to rise in their stirrups and touch him with the spur, +with the invariable consequences. + +I sold him at last to a man who had often seen me ride him, and who +envied him for his great speed, having warned him that he would not +bear spurs. However, he would have the horse, and took him into +Leicestershire, where he went very well I believe. + +The best horse I ever had must have been predestined to become my +property, so singularly did I meet it and ultimately purchase it. + +I went one day to St Pancras terminus to meet a friend who was coming +up by one of the Midland trains. Getting there before the train had +arrived, I was wandering about the station, to pass away the time, when +I saw a string of horses being unloaded, and amongst them there was one +that had been unboxed and was standing as quietly as possible by itself +not the least startled by all the noise and clatter. I glanced at it, +and thought it a fine-looking animal; but just then, my friend's train +coming in, I joined him, and we went off together. + +In the afternoon I was going down by a train from London Bridge, and +when I walked out on to the platform, curiously enough there was the +same string of horses being boxed to go down to a large firm of dealers +in the South; there too was the same horse that I had seen at St +Pancras, standing as quietly as possible waiting her turn to be boxed. +I went up to look at her, and admired her very much. She was a +dark-brown, and seemed to have very good legs and feet, though I could +not see much of her, as she was all clothed up and legs bandaged; but I +had not much time to look over her, as my train was ready, so I got in, +and, for the moment, never thought anything more about her. + +Some short time after this I had a letter from a large firm of +horse-dealers, telling me that their "show day" was to come off next +week, and asking me to come and look through their stables. I did not +want another horse, but thought I should like to go, and, on the fixed +day, went. On getting to their place, after a very good lunch, they +asked me to come out and go over the stud. When they opened the door of +the first stable, strangely enough there stood, just opposite the door, +the identical brown mare I had so admired on her journey through town. +The dealer, seeing I was struck with her, insisted on her being +stripped and brought out, in spite of my telling them that I did not +want a horse, and that it was no use taking the trouble to bring her +out. However, out she came, and I certainly admired her very much. To +my surprise, she stood 15 h. 3 in., though until you went close to her +you would not have thought her more than 15 hands; had four splendid +flat black legs, well ribbed up, with a very nice head and well-laid +shoulders and neck; her paces and action were excellent, and the +dealers said if I could find a fault in her they would give her to me. +I told them I did not want her, but as they were taking her in, thought +I would just ask her price. Now, horses were very dear that season, +and, as she was warranted a good hunter, excellent in harness and to +carry a lady, and only four years old, I expected that at least £100 +would be asked. To my great surprise, they said £40. This, of course, +choked me off at once, as I felt sure that at that price there must be +some _very_ "loose screw." Refusing all offers of her, I drove home. + +In a few days after this I had a letter from the dealers begging me to +have her, saying they would distinctly warrant her in every way, and +that she would (of course) exactly suit me. I, however, again declined +her. + +A week or so after this I was told that a man was at my stables and +wanted to see me, and, on going out, found that these dealers had +actually sent the mare over for me to try. Well, they gave me a written +warranty of the strongest kind, engaging, amongst other things, either +to give me another horse or return the price if she did not suit me; +and the end was I bought her. + +Well, I had her out the next day and tried her, and found her as good +as they said her to be--rather too high action for a hack, but very +showy and perfect in harness; did not seem to know what shying meant; a +most beautiful light hunter, and a very free goer. I thought I had +found perfection, and everything went on well for more than a week, +until one day, when I had come back from a drive, my groom sent in word +to say that he wanted to see me at the stables. On getting there, he +told me that the mare would not go into the stable, and, sure enough, +whenever he tried to lead her in she placed herself flat against the +wall, and refused to move. We got her to the door at last, and she +stood with her head just inside; and, though I tried to tempt her with +corn, green-meat, sugar, &c., she absolutely refused to go farther. + +At length, without any warning, she suddenly rushed in and round into +her stall, with such violence that she nearly slipped up against her +manger, and only recovered herself after a great struggle; and on the +next day, when they tried to bring her out, she rushed out just in the +same violent way. Here was the "loose screw" with a vengeance! but as I +did not wish to part with her (for she was perfection with the +exception of this trick), I set to work to try how to cure her of it. +After some time we found that we could get her in and out of the stable +by backing her, and this, though a rather awkward plan, was quite +successful. I may say that after some years we got her to walk in +quietly. The dealers had evidently kept an eye on her, for when they +found out that I had hit on a plan by which I could get her into and +out of a stable without danger they had the impudence to write and +offer me £60 and _another horse_ if I would let them have her back; +and, on my taking no notice of this, actually wrote again and offered +me £100. + +Curiously enough, the mare would go into and out of a _strange_ stable +quite quietly, but directly she got accustomed to it began the rushing +game. + +This mare was perfect with that one exception, and did not know what +fear was. If a gun was fired close to her, she would not take the least +notice, and would allow a rifle to be fired under her nose, with the +reins on her neck, and not even move her head. + +I always believe that shying and all that kind of trick in a horse is +the fault, in nearly every case, of the rider. Of course there are +differences of temperament in horses as in men, but as a rule, what I +have stated is the case, and I once had what I consider a remarkable +illustration of it. + +I was on the staff at the first autumn manoeuvres in the Aldershot +district in 1871, and one day I was riding back to camp after a heavy +day, when I met a friend--a cavalry officer. We stopped to talk over +the day, and just as we were parting he said to me, "Oh, I have a lot +of horses eating their heads off; if you would take one and ride it, it +would save yours and do mine good." I of course accepted the offer with +thanks, saying at the same time, "I suppose it is a charger," and +received (as I thought) an answer in the affirmative. + +The horse was sent over to my stables that evening, and the next +morning at 4 A.M., on going out of my tent, I found a very fine bright +chestnut horse, evidently nearly thoroughbred, being led about by my +groom. Well, I mounted him and rode off, and after duly inspecting the +pickets and outposts, rode on to join the general staff. As I was going +along I suddenly found myself on one of those dangerous pieces of +ground that are to be often met with in the Aldershot district--all +seamed with cart-ruts worn into the sand, varying from 2 to 4 feet in +depth, and overgrown with heather, so that you cannot detect them until +you are actually amongst them. Finally, finding where I was, I took my +legs out of the stirrups, and put the reins on the horse's neck, +knowing that I could not help him, and let him pick his way as best he +could. He was doing this very cleverly, when suddenly a gun from a +battery, concealed in a hollow close by, was fired (it was, in fact, +the gun to tell the troops to be ready to move). My horse did not take +the slightest notice of it, not even pricking his ears. Of course I +thought that as he took no sort of notice of big guns he must be +thoroughly broken, and used him as if he was--riding him with cavalry, +artillery, and infantry, taking points, and doing everything that +pertains to a staff officer's duties; and no horse could have done +better or been more thoroughly steady. + +At the end of the manoeuvres I returned him to my friend with many +thanks, and he very soon sold him as a broke charger for a long price. + +Shortly after this I was dining with my friend at the mess of his +regiment, and, after dinner, in the ante-room, I happened to remark to +an officer, "What a very good riding-master and staff they must have to +break in so young a horse so thoroughly." He looked rather amused, and +replied, "I suppose you refer to Red Rover?" (the name of the horse). I +said, "Yes." "Well," he answered, "you broke him!" I was, of course, +greatly surprised, but found it was actually the case. The horse had +never been ridden with troops until he was lent to me, and I feel not +the slightest doubt that it was the fact of his being on that dangerous +piece of ground, and my having my feet and hands both loose when the +gun was fired so unexpectedly, that gave him confidence. I could not +have influenced him in the slightest degree. Of course, if I had been +on ordinary ground, and had seen that a gun was going to be fired, I +should, naturally enough, have slightly tightened the reins and felt +his mouth and pressed my legs to his side, and thus have drawn his +attention to the fact that something was going to take place. As I did +not, he took the noise as a matter of course, and did not notice it; +and so, through mutual ignorance, we had perfect confidence in one +another. But there is a sequel to this. Some months later I had a +letter from my friend, telling me that if I wished to buy the horse I +might get him for almost nothing, as the man he sold him to gave an +awful character of him as a charger. As the horse was in the same +district I happened to be in, I went to see him, and certainly the +groom gave him a bad character. I got leave to try him, and very soon +found that his present owner must be a very irritable, nervous man. The +horse had had his mouth so jagged about with the bit that he never kept +his head still for a minute, and, if you told him to mark a flank, +directly it approached began to switch his tail and tried to kick, +having evidently had frequent digs with the spur to make him steady. +Altogether the horse was quite spoiled for a charger through his +rider's fidgets; and, as I did not care to take the trouble to try and +break him again, I did not have anything more to do with him. But I +think this was a striking proof of how a horse can be made and unmade. + + + + +SPORTING FOR MEN OF MODERATE MEANS + + +For your wealthy noblemen, or large landed proprietors, it matters +little what sport of any kind costs them, whether in horses, hounds, +shooting, fishing, yachting, racing, or coursing. + +Yet very many rich men are the greatest screws possible--carrying out +the old adage of "the more you have, the more you want." Love of sport +is one of the boasted and general characteristics of an Englishman; but +I am inclined to think that, after all, young England is not such an +ardent sportsman or such a hard man as his father and grandfathers +were. As a rule, they are more of the feather-bed and hearth-rug sort; +but this by no means applies to all, for I know many good and +indefatigable men, and there are hundreds I do not. + +Our forefathers were, no doubt, earlier than we are--that is, they did +not, in spite of their hard drinking at times, turn night into morning +as we do. They went early to bed, and got up early; began hunting +before daylight, and managed to kill their fox as twilight fell. Their +soul was in sport, and we love to talk and hear about the grand, +generous, though illiterate old squires of a hundred and fifty years +ago. Men who always stirred their ale with a sprig of rosemary, and +drank posset before going to bed; dined at one o'clock when they were +at home; smoked their "yard of clay," wore topboots, buckskins, and a +blue coat with brass buttons--regular Squire Westerns, but perhaps a +little more refined than that worthy was. But education--and that +wonderful thing, "steam," which enables us to travel from one end of +the kingdom to another in the course of a few hours--soon stamped the +old country gentleman out. What should we think if we now saw the +queer-fashioned coach, with its four long-tailed black horses, doing +about five miles an hour? Some of our London swells, who cannot stoop +to pick an umbrella up, would fall down in a fit, especially if the +inmates of the said coach were any friends or relations of theirs. + +Yes, the good old days are gone by--passed for ever. Men now smoke +their cigars, hunt and shoot for a couple of hours, and look with +horror on the portraits of their ancestors with a pigtail, and whisp of +white cambric round their necks. + +Many, very many country gentlemen of a century ago never saw London; +they might have heard of it, but it was the work of a week to get up, +and another to get back, and a visit to London about once or twice in +their lives was as much as many could boast of, and gave them food for +gossip for years and years after. + +Shootings in those days were not of much value, and a man might have +had a great deal of sport for a very little money; but now all is +changed, though it is only within the last thirty or forty years that +Scotch shootings have risen in value; some moors that were rented then +for fifty pounds per annum are now nearer five hundred. + +Directly people found out they could get down to Scotland at +comparatively little cost and trouble, the prices of shootings went +up--and they will continue to rise. England is much wealthier than she +was. Commerce is much more extended; money is easier; speculation is +more rife; more gold discovered, which I cannot see makes one iota +difference; yet in spite of all this, and the heavy taxes we groan +under--many raised and "thrust upon us" for the purpose of maintaining +a lot of hungry foreigners, who, by the way, have the pick of all the +good things. Well, well! that game will be played out before very many +years are gone by; there will be a most signal "check-mate," a +"right-about," and the usual "Who'd have thought it?" "Knew it was +coming," "Always said so," and so on. But to my mutton. Despite of the +heavy price of things, heavy taxes, heavy rents, the Englishman is +still a sportsman to his heart's core. If he does not make such a +labour of it as his forefathers, he loves it just as well; his hounds +and his horses are faster--he is faster, in many senses of the word; +his guns do not take half an hour to load, and his pointers or setters +can beat a twenty-acre field of turnips in something less than four +hours; in fact, in many places dogs are going out of fashion, and the +detestable system of "driving" coming in. I hate a battue, and call it +sport I cannot, and never will. It is true I go to them occasionally, +get into a hot corner, and have the "bouquet"--but still I cannot call +it legitimate sport. + +The man with moderate means must give up all idea of Scotch shooting, +unless he goes very far north and gets some of the islands that are +difficult of access; then it may still be done. Wild shooting, in many +parts of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall may be had at +reasonable prices: thirty years ago ground--and good ground--could be +got at sixpence an acre; now it is eighteenpence and two shillings. + +Very fair rough shooting may be rented in North or South Wales for +about threepence an acre, and it is here, or in Ireland--which I shall +presently touch upon--that the man of moderate means may have both +shooting and fishing. + +In the first place, house-rent is cheap in Wales; in fashionable spots, +of course, it is not; but those are the very places a sportsman must +avoid: he must leave fashion, youth, and beauty behind him, and go in +for sport, and sport only. + +Having found a house and ground, he must then get a good keeper and +dog-breaker. + +Here he exclaims, "Ah! a keeper! here's the commencement of expenses!" + +Patience, my friend, and I'll tell you how your keeper shall pay +himself, and put money into your pocket as well. + +Of course, with wild shooting or any other you will want dogs; and for +this purpose I recommend setters. Of course I presume you are a +sportsman, and know all about it, for it would never do if you did not. +You must also, if you possibly can, get ground where there are plenty +of rabbits--these are what pay; they cost nothing to keep, and are no +trouble--every good rabbit is worth nearly a shilling to you to sell. + +Your setters must be of a fashionable and first-class strain; you must +have three or four breeding bitches; and the produce of these setters +will not only pay your keeper, but your rent as well. You must +advertise your puppies to be sold, and keep yourself before the public +by constant advertisements. Your keeper will break at least four brace +of setters for you to sell each year; and these dogs, according to +their goodness and beauty, will be worth from fifty to a hundred +guineas a brace, and even more. So you will not only be able to pay +your man, but a good part of your rent and expenses as well: but you +must go systematically to work, and make it a business combined with +pleasure. You must understand that good and trustworthy keepers are +like angels' visits, few and far between--but still they are to be had; +and when you have one, regard him as the very apple of your eye, and +never let a few pounds stand in the way. If you have a large extent of +ground, a man who understands his business well will break more than +four brace of dogs a year--aye, double the quantity, but it is better +to have fewer done--and done well; get a good name for having the +correct article, and you will always be able to dispose of more dogs +than you can breed or break. Destroy all the crooked and weakly pups, +keeping only those that will make braces, or any others that are really +handsome. You can also break a couple of brace yourself--that is, if +you have temper and patience. February is the time to commence with +your young dogs. You can keep them at work for six weeks or two months; +by that time good fishing will be in. I care not to commence fishing +too early. + +One of the first things you must do is to put up a good serviceable +kennel, where your dogs can lie dry and warm. It must be well +drained--if possible, with a stream of water running through it. You +need not go to any great expense, but it must be _well paved_, and +constantly hot-lime washed, to keep it sweet and wholesome, and the +ticks and vermin under. + +I will not here give any directions how they are to be made, because +that depends a great deal on the place you have--the space, +convenience, and so forth--but wherever you build them, let there be a +good large yard for the dogs to run about in. Let the benches they lie +on fold back against the wall, so that you may wash under them; and +made with a flap in front, that the dogs, when tired, cannot crawl +under them, which they will very often do. Benches are generally made +in bars three inches wide, with an inch space between each, to let all +the dust, small bits of straw, &c., through. Your dogs must always be +_well bedded_--if straw is expensive and difficult to get, good dry +fern will do very well. In Wales and Ireland I always had a lot of this +cut every year at the proper time, stacked and thatched. Your _kennel +must be kept scrupulously clean and washed out every morning_. + +Feeding is a very important thing, and must be judiciously and +regularly done, and always at the same hour; but as every one has his +own ideas on this point, I will say no more about it. + +The place, of all others, for good wild shooting and fishing is +Ireland. Here a man with moderate means may have all he wants--cheap +house-rent; taxes few; living at much less cost than in England, and +sport to his heart's content. It is, I admit, a wild life; but then it +is a very pleasant, happy one. + +The sea-voyage is nothing: those splendid steamers which run from +Holyhead to Kingstown cross in a few hours, and you hardly, unless +there is heavy weather, know you are at sea. + +For the man whose heart is in sport, I know of no place so well adapted +as Ireland. Wild ducks, snipe, grouse, and capital woodcock shooting; +hares, rabbits, partridges and pheasants; all that you want is the +ground properly looked after. + +Wherever you go, if economy is your object, you must never attempt +hand-reared pheasants; the cost of feeding is very great, and, as I +have often and often said before, a hand-reared pheasant, killed in +December, costs little less than half a sovereign. Near a covert, if +there is rough ground, it may be broken up, and barley or buck-wheat +sown; this must not be cut, but left standing for the birds to go to +whenever they are so inclined. This is a very inexpensive way of +feeding. They are very fond of small potatoes, but these will do for +your pigs. + +What you require in Ireland is plenty of poultry of all sorts; a couple +of Kerry cows, which may be had for little money, and a good sort of +pig--some of Peter Eden's breed; fellows that are fattened at +comparatively little cost. You must have cows--or be able to get +buttermilk somewhere--for your puppies will not do without it. + +There is no great sale for dogs in Ireland, but they may always be +taken over to England, and sold at the proper time--in June or July. +Numbers now go to America. + +But there are many other spots, if you choose to go farther afield. +There is very decent shooting to be got in France, and there are always +Government forests to let. + +Were I a young man, the place of all others I should go to again would +be to Hungary. Sport of all kinds is to be had there; but this even has +been found out, and many English reside there now for boar and +stag-hunting and shooting. + +But in England, if you watch your chance and have agents on the look +out, you may occasionally come across a good bit of shooting at a +moderate figure; or you may take a good manor, and do as a great many +do--that is, have so many guns to join you. If you hire on your own +account, either in England or Scotland, you can charge the guns +anything you like for shooting and board--that is, anything in reason, +and that they are likely to pay. You may then get your own shooting at +little or no cost; for there are many men who will pay a hundred for a +month's good sport. They are in business, or in some profession, and +cannot spare more time. + +A man who has time, is really fond of sport, knows something about it, +and goes the right way to work, can get both his shooting and fishing +at a very moderate rate. + +Many imagine it is necessary to have their brace of breech-loaders, and +a lot of useless and expensive paraphernalia. One gun is all that is +needed, except you have wild-fowl shooting. You must have a gun for +that, either for punt or shoulder, according to the shooting. + +A large quantity of dogs that are not wanted, and are utterly useless, +are often kept. For a moderate scope of ground, two brace of setters +are quite sufficient, unless you are breeding dogs. Then you must, of +course, have your brood bitches as well. I should have mentioned, it +will be a great saving to you if you keep a first-rate stud dog. You +will not only have his services, but you can advertise him as a stud +dog; and he can form one of your working team likewise. + +I must impress on my readers that puppies can hardly be kept too well. +They must have little or no meat during their puppyhood, but plenty of +milk and oatmeal, the latter always to be well boiled. Feed them three +times a day for the first three or four months, and twice a day till +nine months old. After that one good meal a day is sufficient. + +A large volume might be written how to keep and feed dogs, on kennels, +&c. This has often been done before; but things are now altered, and we +must keep pace with the times. + +I have never been able to afford an expensive shooting, and being +abroad from the time I was twenty-one till I was middle-aged, I never +had the chance; but, coming over to England every year, as I did, and +shooting in all parts, it enabled me to know the localities, and where +shooting at a reasonable price was to be had. + +It is a large house and servants that swallow up one's income. A +bachelor sportsman only requires a sitting-room and a bed-room, with +his tub in some corner or outhouse close at hand. + +There is nothing I like more than a real sportsman's den. There he has +his guns, his rods, his different sporting paraphernalia, his pipes, +his cigars, his powder and ammunition, and everything handy. As I am +writing this I can see all my traps around me. I am rather proud of my +sanctum. I have a place for everything, and everything in its place. My +books--of which I have some hundreds of volumes--are before me. On one +side of the wall are all my fishing things; over the mantelpiece, on +racks, are my guns, and a goodly collection of pipes; in a +three-cornered cupboard all my ammunition, and some hundreds of +cartridges; in another cupboard are cigars, and odds and ends; in +another a lot of nets, and a sort of fixed washing-stand; two luxurious +old-fashioned arm-chairs on either side of my fire-place, into which I +can pop and take a smoke when I am tired of writing. And at this +present moment there are three setters and a couple of Dandie Dinmonts +curled up on the hearth-rug before my fire; but my dogs are always +clean in their habits; if not, they would not find a place in my room. +The rain is pattering against my windows, and it is a wild wet night; +but still I am contented, and looking out for to-morrow, when I am +going to have a day's rabbit-shooting, and beat a favourite snipe +marsh. + +I like to have my dogs about me, although I am not a single man, and +have boys as tall as myself. Yet my dumb animals are companions to +me--shooting alone for so many years in vast forests and thinly-inhabited +countries, and often far away from friends and civilised life, has made +me somewhat lonely in habits. + +It sometimes makes me laugh to hear some men talk on sporting matters. +I have often been trudging home late at night, wet through, or in a +heavy snow-storm, with my tired dogs "at heel," when others have had a +good dinner, a skinful of wine, finished their third glass of toddy, +are beginning to talk rather thick, and find their cigars won't draw. I +was obliged to content myself with a cup of sour cider, black rye-bread +and eggs, and up and away before daylight again. Certainly I need not +have done so; and sitting here, before my comfortable fire, I think how +soft I was. But young men will be young men; and it was my love of +sport that made me lead the wild and solitary life I did. + +But there is no occasion for any one to do as I did. I have gained +experience with years. I do not think I should ever have given it up +but for one reason. One night I left Quimper in Lower Brittany, and +walked down the river (it was a tidal one) to a favourite spot for +ducks. I had on my mud boots, and was well wrapped up. I got to the +spot I intended, and there I lay waiting, lying down on a bit of board, +with my famous black retriever Di beside me. It was bitterly cold, and +I took a nip every now and then from my flask. If it had been full, +which it was not, there would not have been more than a small +wine-glassful in it, for it went into my waistcoat pocket; but, little +as it was, that and the cold made me drowsy, and I fell asleep. I was +awakened by an icy feeling under me, and my retriever tearing at my +coat. I found the tide was coming up, and I was in six or eight inches +of water. My poor dog was in a terrible state. I made my way to land, +which was not more than fifty yards from me; but I was in such agony I +could hardly get on, and, to make matters worse, it began to snow +heavily. However, I managed to get to the road, and into Quimper; but I +was laid up four months with ague, fever, and rheumatism, and never +left my room during that time. Luckily, it was at the fag end of the +season. + +On another occasion after this attack--the next year--I was woodcock +shooting with a friend of mine--an Englishman, now dead and gone. A +better sportsman did not exist. We had got into a flight of woodcocks, +and we had killed nine couples and a half, and were just on the point +of returning home, when I was seized with ague again. We were about +eight miles from Quimper at the time. My poor friend carried me three +miles on his back before we could get a cart to take me home; but I +soon recovered from this attack. I once in a day killed forty-four +woodcocks, and on another occasion twenty-five. I had many narrow +escapes and adventures. In my book of "Over Turf and Stubble," there is +a full and exhaustive account of sporting in France, and how you are to +go to work, with a list of places where sport is to be had, and what +you require. Woodcock and snipe shooting is not so good as it was, in +consequence of the eggs of the former being taken and eaten, as our +plover eggs are, and also from the ground being more drained. Still +there are spots and haunts where they are to be found and killed in +numbers. I once killed sixty couples of snipe in some paddy fields +abroad. + +As regards fishing, the man of moderate means must not think of a river +in Norway or Scotland. He must be contented with trout and general +fishing; and the place for this is, no doubt, Ireland. There is very +fair fishing in many parts of England, but for real sport go to +Ireland. The white trout fishing is superlatively good there; so is the +pike fishing. I know of a place now in Ireland to let--about five +thousand acres of mountain, with eight or nine lakes, a beautiful +river, with good pools, in which there are salmon, and white and brown +trout. The fishing on the lakes is very good. In some of them the trout +are small, but there are any quantity. It is in a very wild, lonely +spot--four _Irish_ miles over the mountains, and nothing but a herd's +hut to go to when there. The shooting, grouse, hare, snipe, and cock, +and a few partridges, was very fair. All this was to be had on lease, +or by the season, for £20 per annum, and is now, I believe. Had I +remained in Ireland I should have taken it, and put up a little place +of two rooms, or added a bit on to the herd's cabin. But I think I +should have made a little crib on one of the islands of the lake; there +is a beautiful site for one. Here no keeper would be required; merely a +Jack-of-all-trades. No lady, unless she were a good walker, could get +up to this place, for the mountain is difficult and in places boggy; +but could ride it on a pony. I used to enjoy my visits there. Sitting +on a three-legged stool before the bright turf-fire of a night, with my +pipe and whisky and water, talking of my day's work, I was thoroughly +happy. A small boat would be requisite on all the lakes, and a larger +one for the big lake, by which I proposed to build a cottage. I could +have done all this at very little expense, as there was plenty of +stone. + +There is no necessity for the fisherman to be bothered with a lot of +expensive and useless tackle; and as to flies, if I do not make them +myself, I always buy them of local men, who know what are required. +They tie them beautifully in Ireland, and know the required colours. + +There is capital fishing in Lough Corrib, Galway. I had a small yacht +there of ten tons, and many a fishing expedition I have had in her of a +bright, warm summer's day. I sometimes had great sport with the perch, +which run to three pounds. I have hauled them in, when we have come +across them, _sculling_, as fast as I could let out line and pull +it in. There is a great deal of shooting and fishing to be had in this +way. + +There is also great fun with the lake trout, which run very large; so +do the pike and eels. I always used to set night lines for the latter. +Great quantities of ducks, too, are to be got on Lough Corrib. + +There is capital fishing and shooting to be got at Killaloe, County +Clare. I have had rare sport there. It is by going about and making +inquiries that I have always been able to have good sport, and find out +favoured spots for woodcock and snipe. + +Hundreds of men are taken in by answering advertisements, which set +forth the fishing or shooting in glowing colours--how miserably have +they been deceived! You may depend the only way is to go over the +ground yourself with a brace of good dogs, always taking the +_contrary_ direction which you are told to go. If you cannot spare +the time, let some one do it for you that you can thoroughly trust. + +I remember once a gentleman taking a salmon river in Norway, paying, of +course, in advance; when he got there the river was dry, or nearly so. +On expostulating with the agent, and demanding his money back, he was +told that the proprietor really could not be answerable for the water, +and that he had better stop till rain came, and that, probably, the +fish would come with it. + +A man in these days cannot be too sharp in taking either shooting or +fishing; how many are "done" in hiring Scotch moors! They answer a +flowing advertisement, take it haphazard, pay their money, and when +they get there find there are no grouse or deer either. This happens +year after year, and yet, with these facts before them, many will not +take warning. + +Hunting I will not touch on, because that is an expensive amusement; +but I can say this, my hunting never cost me a farthing. I used to buy +young horses, make them, and sell them at good prices. But a man must +not be only a good rider, he must be a good judge of a horse as well. + +I know many men who hunt, shoot, and fish, and their amusement costs +them little or nothing. + +Now a few words as to yachting. That we all know is a very expensive +amusement too; but even this is to be managed--of course not in the +style of very many of our noblemen. I knew a man who bought a schooner +of one hundred and twenty tons, and laid out some money on her besides; +this yacht he let for three months during the season, and did so well +by her, that, in two years, he had his purchase-money back and +something more to boot. The remainder of the season he used her +himself. Still, a vessel of this size requires a number of hands, and +it is a risk. He kept a small yacht for his own amusement as well. + +A man with moderate means may have a great deal of pleasure out of a +boat of fifteen or twenty tons, or even less; and if he chooses to make +it his home, it will cost no more than if he hired lodgings and dined +at home, or at his club. Supposing he does not like knocking about in +winter time, which is not agreeable, he can always lay her up in some +nice harbour, and still live on board. If he is fond of his gun, he can +take her to many places and lay her up--where he can get shooting as +well, always living on board--South Wales, Ireland, France, and many +parts of England and Scotland. And besides sea-fishing, he may get +other fishing in the same way. + +At the end of the yachting season there are hundreds of boats to be +bought at a very moderate figure, sometimes almost for nothing. For the +purpose I have named, you want no wedge-like racing craft, but a boat +with a good floor, good beam, and light draft of water, with summer and +winter sails, in fact, a nice roomy seaworthy boat. + +But in buying you must be cautious, and have some one with you who +thoroughly understands the business, otherwise you may invest in a +craft whose timbers are rotten, and the planking no stronger than brown +paper; there is nothing that one who does not thoroughly understand the +matter is easier taken in with than boats. + +Having now told you how shooting, &c., may be got on moderate means, +perhaps a short account of my little yacht I had on Lough Corrib, +Galway, and what I did, may not be uninteresting. + +After I had been a short time in Galway--that is, a couple of miles +from the town--I found a very nice boat of about ten tons that was to +be sold. I made enquiries, and discovered she was nearly new, and that +more than a hundred pounds had been spent on her in making a cabin and +fitting her out. I bought her for _eight pounds_, spent twenty more on +her, and had the most complete little fishing and shooting craft I ever +saw. I had a rack for my guns and rods, and lockers for all my things; +there were places to put away game, provisions, and liquor, and a good +stove, of modern contrivance, for cooking. This last was in my cabin, +for she was too small to have a forecastle. In summer we cooked on +shore, on the stones or what not. She was only partly decked--what is +called a welled boat. Over this well at night there was a perfectly +water-tight tarpaulin, which was fastened down by rings. In this well, +which was a large one, my captain slept, and the other man nestled in +the sail-room, which was right astern. I bought a brand-new dingy for +thirty shillings, and was all complete; the whole affair costing me +thirty pounds. As I was living on the banks of Lough Corrib, the boat +was moored close to my house, and from my window I could see her. + +In this boat I used to go to all parts of the lake, which is +forty-eight miles long, and ten wide in one place. There were several +rivers I could get up, and innumerable little bays, and places where +one could anchor for the night. On Lough Corrib, there are no end of +islands, some of them large; it is said there is an island for every +day in the year, viz., 365. There was capital shooting on some of these +islands, and on many parts of the marshes, on the banks of the lake, I +had leave to shoot. One marsh or bog was seventeen miles long, and +three or four wide. Most of this country was undrained, and snipe were +in thousands. It makes my mouth water to think of the snipe and duck +shooting I sometimes had there, as well as wild geese; but I got ague +and rheumatism again; lost one of my children, and the life was too +lonely for my better half. We were away from home and friends, and as I +was some three or four years over forty, I gave it up, reluctantly, I +must say, and returned to the old land. + +Lough Corrib is difficult to navigate, and you must have a man with you +who knows it thoroughly, otherwise you will come to grief. My captain +knew it well, and was a good sportsman into the bargain. My old sailor, +who had been all his life about those wild, desolate, and God-forgotten +islands, "the Arran," was a rare fisherman. He always managed the night +lines, and when we have been anchored at the mouth of the Clare Galway +river for the night, of a morning the lines have been loaded with eels, +some of four and even five pounds in weight. If we baited for them, +sometimes we had large catches of pike and trout. + +I think cross-line fishing, or an otter, is still allowed on the lake; +but I never went in for this, you require a licence for it. + +Of a night, at flight time in July, the young ducks--they were more +than "flappers"--used to come up from the lake and marshy grounds in +numbers to the cornfields, and we generally gave it to them hot, +morning and evening; and in parts of the lake we used to get "flapper" +shooting. It was endless amusement to me, roaming about on the +different islands knocking over a few rabbits, or sometimes a duck or +snipe. I always carried a ten-bore gun with me, shooting four drachms +of powder and two ounces of shot. I never knew what was going to get +up; occasionally I had a crack at an otter asleep on the stones. +Sometimes a duck would spring when I least expected it; there was no +knowing. In winter we were obliged to be very careful, for the wind +comes off the mountains in gusts and is very treacherous, and accidents +soon happen unless you have your weather eye open. + +There is some capital snipe and duck shooting on Lord Clanmorris's +property, on the banks of the Clare Galway river. I do not know if it +is yet let, or leave now given; but I think it is not let. The white +trout fishing is first rate in Connemara, but what a wild desolate +place it is! The salmon fishing is said to be very good in the Clare +Galway river, but though I have seen plenty of fishermen on it, and +there are no end of fish, I never saw very much done; it is a sluggish +river, and wants a good _curl_ on the water to get a rise. + +As I have said, I have had some of the best duck and snipe shooting at +Killaloe I ever enjoyed; but snipe and woodcock shooting depend a great +deal on the season. Some years there are any quantity, another season +comparatively few; it is the same everywhere. + +The golden plover shooting is very good all round Galway, and if you +know the "_stands_," that is, where they roost of an evening, you can +always get two or three shots. I have seen killed on one of the little +islands on Lough Corrib, at one shot, twenty-one, which were picked up, +and I believe there were one or two more that were not found. + +There is good shooting and fishing about Cork, and Limerick as well; in +fact, all over Ireland it is to be had; but remember, the nearer you +are to Dublin, or any large town, the dearer things are. It is to the +wild, desolate spots you must go for real sport, and if a man can +manage to put up with such a life, all well and good. Several Englishmen +bought estates round Galway, but I suppose they got tired of it, or were +afraid of the little pot shooting that an Irishman occasionally takes +at one, just "_pour passer le temps_," as they are, or were, to let. + +I had capital sport in Lower Brittany, France; there are plenty of +woodcock and snipe in parts, and the living at the time I speak of was +very cheap; but, alas! there is a railway now, so, of course, like all +other places, it has gone up in price. In these days, it has become a +somewhat difficult matter to particularise which are the best places to +go to for sport. If you do not mind distance, Hungary is the place. If +you want to be near home, Ireland or France. + +Take my advice, as an old sportsman who has been at it all his life, +and has now seen nearly half a century; if you are a man of moderate +means take your time in hiring a place, and when you have found one to +suit you, rent on a long lease, if you can; if you wish to give it up, +it will not remain on your hands any time. Do not be inveigled into +buying a lot of useless guns, rods, or sporting paraphernalia; a _real_ +sportsman does not require them. + +I think I have now pretty well exhausted the subject, and told you how +to go to work. + + + + +PARTRIDGE MANORS AND ROUGH SHOOTING + + +Bright, beautiful, glorious June! + +I have often been asked which of the four seasons I like the best; my +answer has ever been the same: "The hunting, shooting, fishing, and +racing." One season I detest (the very name of it gives me the cold +shivers)--the _London one_; defend me from that; for if there is a +particular time which is calculated to make "Paterfamilias" miserable +and more out of humour than another, it is that abominable period of +shopping, dinners, evening parties, operas, theatres, concerts, +flirtations, flower-shows, and the dusty Row, with its dangerous holes. + +I hate the formality--the snobbism of the "little village." I begin +to think Napoleon I. was right when he said we were "a nation of +shop-keepers." I do not mind a good dinner, when I can get one; but +there is the rub, I never do get a good dinner; the English do not know +how to dine. After twenty years' residence on the Continent, I have +come to the conclusion that John Bull is miserably, hopelessly +behindhand with our French neighbours on all matters pertaining to +eating and drinking; but then I balance the account in this way--Mossoo +is not a sportsman; and although he will tell you he is a "_chasseur +intrépide_," "_un cavalier de première force_," he does not shine +either in the hunting or shooting field. + +But the French ladies? Ah, they can dress; they beat us there again +into Smithereens. + +I am not like a bear in the hollow of a tree, who has been sucking his +paws all the winter to keep him alive; I have been enjoying most of our +country amusements, and I may say the winter has passed pleasantly. + +Of late years a deaf ear has been turned to hints thrown out "for a +change of air, things wanted," &c. Busily engaged in building, +draining, planting, and so on, little time could be given by me to +London festivities. + +The last attack was made in a somewhat ingenious manner. + +"Frederick, poor Alice wants her teeth looking at. I think she had +better go up to town for three weeks or a month, and be put under the +care of a good dentist." + +This was as much as to say, "We are all to go;" but I was equal to the +occasion. + +"By all means, my dear, let her go. My sister is there for the season, +and will only be too delighted to have her; but as for my leaving the +place at present, with all I have to do, it is an utter impossibility." +This was a settler. + +Somehow or other I begin to feel more lively as spring comes on. As a +rule, about the middle of May I require a little spring medicine and a +change of air. I find that the breezes of Epsom Downs agree famously +with me, although my better-half always declares I "look vilely" on my +return. Absurd nonsense! But I love my own quiet country life; its wild +unfettered freedom. Away from the smoke, dust, and tumult of +over-crowded cities--away from late hours and the unwholesome glare of +gas, and I am happy. + +A trip to Ascot and Goodwood with my family keeps matters all straight. +A break now and then, and the quiet monotony of country life is not +felt. + +June, bright, beautiful, glorious June, has peculiar attractions for +me. I am a shooter. I have not a grouse moor, for the simple reason +that I cannot afford one; as my old keeper says, "It is master's +terrible long family and expenses that prevents his going into shooting +as he would like." + +I am obliged to content myself with a partridge manor; and, after all, +I believe I like partridge and snipe shooting better than any other. + +As I remark in my notes on "November Shooting," a friend of mine once +said he considered snipe-shooting "_the fox-hunting of shooting_," +and I am disposed to agree with him. + +But, to return to June, from the 5th to about the 20th of the month, +most of the forward hatches come off, and are seen basking and +bathering round their mother. + +But there are other hatches much later, for cheepers are often found in +September quite unfit to shoot at. + +I can only account for this, that the old birds have had their eggs +destroyed in some way or other. + +A partridge manor is not one quarter the expense of pheasants and +coverts. The latter birds not only require constant attention, night +and day, but feeding forms a very serious item. Pheasants are very +costly, and only within reach of the rich man. + +A partridge manor, to have a good head on it, though, must be well +looked after, the vermin kept down, and your keeper with a sharp eye to +all poachers and suspicious characters. + +With a net at night they often sweep off the birds wholesale; but there +is a very easy way of baffling them. Put sticks, about eighteen inches +high, fifteen, twenty, or thirty yards apart, over the ground the +partridges generally roost on; these, as the net is drawn along, lift +it up, and the birds easily escape. + +It is a good plan to walk the fields of an evening with a brace of +dogs, where you know they roost, and disturb them; they may probably +then take to the gorse, if any, potatoes, seed clover, and other safe +ground. + +In May and June I wage war with the crows, magpies, jays and hawks, +shooting or trapping the old hen birds. Always kill the male bird +first; this is easily done by waiting patiently within shot, under +cover of some tree or hedge where the nest is, which is generally built +in some pretty high tree; the hen will not desert if sitting hard, +which you should allow her to do; her death is then easily +accomplished. + +I never allow poison to be used, for I hold that a keeper who cannot +destroy all vermin by means of his gun and traps is not worth his +wages. + +To have any quantity of game, it is better that you and your keepers +should be on good terms with your neighbours; they will do as much good +as half a dozen watchers. + +In May and June I always keep a lot of light broody hens ready to sit, +for during the mowing season many partridge nests are cut out. The eggs +are brought warm to me, and are instantly set under one of the hens. + +The people who bring me in the eggs I invariably reward, but they are +never encouraged or allowed to look for nests. Now, if these men were +not paid a trifle, and a horn of ale given to them, they would not +trouble themselves or lose their time. It would be very easy to put +their foot on the eggs and crush them. + +I am not an advocate for hand-reared birds, as there is some trouble +and expense feeding them, and they do not grow strong and vigorous +nearly so quickly as wild ones. + +In one year alone, some four or five seasons back, I had six hundred +eggs cut out, and over five hundred birds were reared. + +Chamberland's food is the best for them, as well as for pheasants. + +Of course the hens should be cooped. There is one thing you must be +most particular about, and that is never to place the coops near an old +bank, or where there are rabbit-burrows, for these spots are not only +the haunts of stoats and weasels, but there is an animal quite as +dangerous, who loves a young partridge--the hedgehog. Many are of +opinion that the hedgehog is harmless, but this idea I have proved +to be erroneous (see "Over Turf and Stubble"--"The Hedgehog a +Game-eater"). + +My life has been spent following up the sports of the field and +observing the habits of different animals. + +The better way is, when your birds are young, to have them on your +lawn, or in a field close to the house. + +The coops must be closed at night, to keep vermin and cats (deadly +poachers) from getting at them. It is a mistake to let them out too +early of a morning. The drier the ground the better partridges do when +young. As they get stronger, remove them with their coops to a potato +or clover field, cutting a swath through the latter to put the coops on +and feed them. Place the coops twenty or thirty yards apart, or the +birds, when young, will be straying into the wrong coops, and the hens +will kill them, for they well know their own family. + +I like a clover-field the best, because there is lots of cover, and +they escape the sharp eye of hawks and other vermin. + +In taking a partridge manor, ascertain first, by going over it +_yourself_, if there is a fair head of breeding stock on the ground. + +A wise "old saw" informs us that, "if you want anything done well, do +it yourself;" and this I certainly advise in this case, unless you have +a keeper you can really trust. + +Do not take a manor that has too much grass land. There ought to be +plenty of cover--turnips, clover, potatoes, rape, stubble, heath, &c., +to insure good sport; for, if your ground is bare, although you may +have plenty of birds, it will soon be impossible to get at them, for, +as you enter a field, they will be away at the other end, and not +having any cover to drive them to, you may follow them for hours and +never get a shot. + +A manor, too, should not be all low ground, or the enclosures too +small. In such a country, good, fast and free-going dogs soon become +cramped in their range and potterers. It is, in an enclosed country, +impossible to mark the birds; and constantly getting over stiff fences +not only tires you, but it unsteadies your hand, which will lose its +cunning. + +A partridge country should be as open as possible; then you can see +your dogs work, which, in my humble opinion, constitutes the greatest +charm of shooting. + +Farms are often let at eighteenpence an acre, which is an absurd +price--a shilling is quite enough; but in many counties you can get as +much good ground as you like at sixpence, but not near London. I hired, +some two years ago, some capital rough shooting in North Wales at less +than threepence an acre, but it was too cold for my better half to +reside in during the winter months. Whatever county you may fix on, +avoid the red-legs; though a very handsome bird, and much larger than +ours, they are not nearly so good for the table as the grey ones, being +dry and tasteless; and they will spoil any dog, as they never take wing +unless hardly pressed, but will run field after field. I destroy their +eggs wherever I meet them. + +In Norfolk, Suffolk, and particularly Essex, there are large quantities +of them; they not only ruin your dogs, but they drive the grey birds +away. I would not have a manor where there were any quantity of +red-legs at a gift. + +Having now told you how to go to work, I will, in the garb of +narrative, which, nevertheless is true, show you how shooting, with +other sport, may be had at little cost by those who love it and prefer +a country life. I give it you as related to me by a very dear old +friend of mine. + +"Lenox and myself were boys at school, and afterwards at college +together. A fine handsome fellow he was too, and doatingly attached to +all field sports; he was not a rich man, quite the contrary, £300 a +year at his father's death was all he had left to him, yet he managed +to keep up a tolerable appearance even in London, and was engaged to +one of the most beautiful girls I ever saw, and with a nice little +fortune of her own. + +"Lenox was very fond and very proud of her, as well he might be; +everything was arranged, the day fixed, trousseau bought, and his +pretty little cottage in Hampshire newly and tastefully furnished to +receive its new mistress. But, lo! a week before their wedding the +young lady eloped with a nobleman, and they were married before Lenox +knew anything about it. + +"He said little, but felt it deeply; all were sorry for him, for he was +a great favourite. + +"Shortly after his pretty little cottage was sold, and with his effects +Lenox vanished mysteriously no one knew whither. + +"I went abroad, and was away many years, and, therefore, had no means +of finding out where he had betaken himself to, or what he was doing. + +"After more than twenty years' absence I returned to the old land; I +had been satiated with sport of all kinds in different parts of the +globe, and did not feel inclined to give the high prices asked for +shootings. + +"My wife was somewhat delicate, and required a mild climate, so I took +'the galloper,' ran down to Plymouth, and from thence to Cornwall, +determined, if I could, to buy a place there. I roamed about the +country looking at different estates, and at last hit on a beautiful +spot, with a nice house on it, convenient to the rail, and not too far +from a good country town or schools. + +"One day during my peregrinations with the agent who had the selling of +the property, I came on one of the most lovely little cottages I ever +saw, placed on a slope, well sheltered from the winds, myrtles and +fuchsias growing luxuriously and abundantly about, with its jessamine +and honeysuckle covered porch, thatched roof, well-kept grounds, +gardens, and brawling stream at the end of the lawn. I thought it one +of the most fairy-looking little spots I had ever seen. + +"'Whose cottage is that?' I asked. 'It is not on this property, is it?' + +"'Oh, no, sir, just off this land; it belongs to Mr Lenox.' + +"'Lenox,' I breathlessly asked, 'Horace Lenox'? + +"'That's it, sir--one of the nicest gentlemen in these parts, and a +rare sportsman: it is not his own property, only hired on long lease, +but he has done a deal to it; three thousand acres of good mixed +shooting and capital fishing, with that cottage, is not dear at fifty +pounds a year, is it, sir?' + +"'I should think not, indeed. Mr Lenox is one of my oldest friends. I +must go and call on him,' which I did. + +"I was told, on asking at the door, that he was out fishing, but would +be home to dinner at six o'clock. + +"'Give him this card,' I said to the respectable old servant who had +answered the ring, 'and tell him, I shall be here at six to dine with +him. Is he married?' + +"'Oh dear no, sir, master is a single gentleman. I don't think he cares +much about the women folk,' she added, in her quaint Cornish way. + +"The time hung heavily on my hands that day, so impatient was I to see +my dear, valued old friend, and half past five saw me walking up the +well-kept walk towards his house. + +"As I approached, a figure issued from the porch, surrounded by four or +five beautiful setters. + +"A fine, handsome-looking man of three or four and forty advanced +towards me, but quite grey; there was no mistaking, though, his honest, +beaming, well-known face. + +"'Frederick, old fellow,' said he, grasping me by the hand, 'this is +indeed kind of you; hundreds of times have I wondered what had become +of you, and if you were still in the land of the living.' + +"'And I the same, Lenox; by mere chance have I found you out. I +inquired at all the old haunts when I returned to England, and could +never learn where you were.' + +"'Then you are the gentleman, I suppose, that has been looking at the +estate next to me, with a view to purchase?' + +"'Just so, Horace, _ecce homo_.' + +"'You could not do better, old fellow; I will put you in the way. I +know every inch of the ground--rare shooting--but come in, and I will +tell you all about it after dinner. Margaret, my servant, is in the +devil's own way, for it is rarely I ever have any one to dine with me.' + +"The inside of the cottage was just as pretty as the outside; his +dining-room was a study for a sportsman: guns, rods, sporting pictures, +&c., here hung all round the walls in endless profusion; it was the +very essence of comfort and taste. + +"'Now, Horace,' said I, as I threw myself into one of the comfortable +arm-chairs beside the open window, and he into another, 'tell me all +that has happened since we last met.' + +"'That is easily done,' he returned, drawing up a small table between +us, with a bottle of claret on it, that sent its aroma all over the +apartment as he drew the cork. + +"'You know how I was served in London?' and his face assumed a hard, +stern expression as he asked the question. + +"'Well, yes,' I replied; 'but you have forgotten all that, Horace?' + +"'I have not forgotten it. I never can forget it; it was a dreadful +blow to me; but I have forgiven it years ago, and am content with my +lot. I left London in disgust, wandered about, and at last found this +little spot. I have the shooting of three thousand acres of land--ten +acres for my two cows--I am as happy as possible. I breed lots of +those,' pointing to his setters, who were lying about; 'and they pay me +well. I have poultry, pigs, shooting--the woodcock and snipe shooting +is particularly good in the season--and fishing in abundance; as good a +cob as any man need possess; deny myself nothing in reason, and never +know what a dull hour is. But you will sleep here, for I have already +found out where you were, and sent for your things.' + +"I never passed a happier evening than I did with my long-lost friend; +we smoked our cigars and talked of old times and old things that had +happened years ago, passed never to return again. + +"'So your eldest boy is sixteen,' he remarked, after one of the pauses. +'Well, you must buy this place, Frederick, it is as cheap as dirt, and +will pay you well. I will make your lads sportsmen--but I suppose you +have done that yourself. I want companions now--no female ones,' he +added, laughingly, 'your wife excepted; but some one to fish and shoot +with me--the partridge-shooting is capital.' + +"I was delighted with all I saw the next day; the place was lovely, and +I was induced to spend a week with him. At the end of that time I was +the purchaser of the property, and left to bring down my family and all +my belongings. + +"I have never regretted the step; though far away from the busy hum of +the world, we are as happy as may be. Horace and I fish and shoot away; +there is a calm quietness which I love. I, like my friend, have had +some ups and downs in life, but the memory of them, in my country +retreat, is gradually 'fading away.'" + +It is all very well for men who have long purses and large possessions +to take expensive shootings; they can afford it and why should they +not? What might I not be tempted to do if I had the chance? I cannot +say, and, therefore, I will not speculate. + +To my young readers who are not _au fait_ at all these matters, I +would urge them never to be too hasty in deciding on taking any +shooting. If they are not in easy circumstances, they must go very +cautiously to work; but that fair partridge and general shooting is to +be had at a moderate figure I can prove. + +It is not generally known, but there are many parts of Scotland where +there is first-rate partridge-shooting, and arrangements can be made to +have it after the grouse-shooters have done and returned to England. I +know several men who have made this arrangement, and get their sport at +a very moderate cost. + +But gadding about to places is not my form. I prefer to remain on the +spot, and then I can always see how matters are going on. + +In taking a rough bit of shooting, only one keeper is necessary; one +good man will do the work far better than half a dozen bad ones. It is, +I admit, a difficult thing to get such a man, but they are to be had. + +I have written this paper solely for the guidance of those whose means +are limited; the rich can do as they like; money is often no object to +them; but this I have known to be a fact, that the man who has only +spent two or three hundreds, and often very much less, on his shooting +has had far better sport than many of those who have spent thousands. + + + + +WHO IS TO RIDE HIM? + + +In a remote and lonely part of Dorsetshire stood, in a +beautifully-wooded park, a fine old mansion, Bradon Hall, belonging to +George Bradon, Esq., who at the time I speak of was about +eight-and-twenty. + +He was one of the old school, as his father had been before him. Early +in life he had been placed in a crack regiment of Dragoons, so he was +not without a pretty good knowledge of the world for his age. Allowed a +liberal sum by his father, he had never exceeded it; on the contrary, +there was generally a fair balance at the end of the year in the hands +of his agent. + +He was a remarkably handsome young fellow. Bred up in the country, and +left to do pretty nearly as he liked, it was not wonderful he turned +out an adept at all sorts of sports. + +A good cricketer, a still better fisherman, a magnificent shot, and not +only the straightest but the best rider in the country; indeed riding +was his forte. Not so with our late friend Artemus Ward at "playing +'oss." With all these sporting accomplishments he was much looked up to +in his regiment, and it was said that the man who could live with +George Bradon in any country for twenty minutes was A1 in the pigskin. + +Two years previous to the time I am speaking of, he found himself +master of Bradon Hall; his mother had gone many years before. + +The first thing he did was to sell out and come home, where he had ever +since resided. All the men in his regiment had the blues when he left. +"It was an infernal bore," Captain Swagger remarked, "to lose such a +vewey fine fellaw as Bwadon; he should like to know who the devil could +bwoo such a cwawat-cup as Bwadon?" + +At any rate George left, taking with him a magnificent gold snuff-box, +a present from his fellow-officers, "which would be," as the +lieutenant-colonel said, "a doocid nice thing to push about the +dinner-table when he and his old friends of the regiment came down to +hunt and shoot with him." + +Some of them had been true to their word, and paid him a visit now and +then in the sporting season. George was delighted to see them; it put +him in mind of old times, and he was always glad to know how matters +were going on in his old corps. + +His father had been a great breeder of horses, and as George was just +as enthusiastically fond of them, the old blood had been kept up; and +with the exception of a fine specimen of an old English gentleman, who +used to be daily seen walking about in a blue coat with gilt buttons, +buckskins and tops, looking over his brood mares and colts, everything +was the same as before. All the servants had been retained; they loved +"Master George" too well to quit, nor had they been asked to. + +Bradon, when with his regiment, had been the crack rider in it, and +many a good stake had he won for that gallant corps. His services had +always been most anxiously sought after, and mounts given him in most +of the great steeple-chases of the day. + +He was so cool and collected, no bustle or flurrying with him. A fine +eye, a fine hand, a famous judge of pace, and strong at the finish, +with a knowledge, that must almost have been born in him, when to ease +his horse, force the running, or take advantage of any mistake. "On the +whole," Lord Plunger, who was no mean judge, used to say--"on the whole +I consider George Bradon the finest cross-country rider in Europe." + +Bradon, though uncommonly lucky in his mounts, bore his honours meekly, +and when he sold out and came down to the old place to live, gave up +steeple-chasing altogether. "He had so much to do, so much to attend +to; after a bit he would have another squeeze at the lemon, but really +he must attend to his affairs first." + +Repeated refusals damped the ardour of his friends, so at last they +gave up asking him to ride, and he was left in quiet to pursue his own +way. + +Time went on, and such a person as George Bradon had almost been +forgotten by the sporting public. One morning, some eighteen months +after he had come home, going into the harness-room, he carelessly +seated himself in the weighing-chair, and exclaimed to the old +stud-groom, an heirloom his father had left him: "The same weight, Tim, +I suppose--eleven three?" + +The person thus appealed to, standing on tiptoe, looked up at the dial +as well as he was able; for, in addition to being short and stout, he +had a very tight pair of trousers, which seemed to have been made on +him, and was moreover incommoded by a stiff white neckcloth, which +threatened to strangle him. After having studied the dial for a few +seconds, he started back, and blurted out in a voice of horror and +amazement: "Can I believe my haged heyes, Master George? You're twelve +five, as I'm a miserable sinner!" + +"What!" exclaimed George, jumping out of the chair considerably quicker +than he had got into it, and throwing away the cigar which he had been +indolently puffing--"what! twelve five? It cannot be; weigh me again, +Tim." + +The old man did so with the same result. "Oh, hang it!" said George, +"the scale is wrong; it cannot be. I am not a bit heavier than I was; +the same clothes fit me I wore two years ago. It's all bosh." + +"I don't know, Master George, if it's all bosh or no," replied his old +servant, "but the scale is right. Now lookee, sir, I've been fourteen +stun nine for the last eleven years--not a hounce more or less. See my +weight, sir." + +George cast his eyes up at the dial as Tim wriggled himself into the +chair. + +"Yes," he said, "you are right--fourteen nine to a fraction, Tim. How +the deuce I came to be this weight I have no idea; but I cannot shut my +eyes to the fact that, instead of eleven three, my old walking weight, +I am twelve five--sixteen pounds in less than two years," he muttered, +as he sauntered away. "By George, I'll knock off that sixteen pounds +pretty quickly, though. I detest fat people. An idle life will not suit +me. I'll do Banting or something." + +Tim looked after his young master as he walked away. "Well," he +exclaimed at length, "Master George"--he was always Master George with +the old servants--"twelve five; I'd never have thought it. There's +something in his heye, though, that tells me he won't be that weight +long. Although he is so cool he'll hunt every day the coming season, +I'll bet my life; walk like blazes, and take physic enough to float a +jolly-boat. I'll lay a sov," he remarked, as he slowly drew one out +of a bag which he extracted from the depths of his capacious +breeches-pocket, "that he is in his old form this day six months; +dashed if I don't bet a fiver, or any part of it." But as no one was +there to take him, he put back the coin, gave the neck of the bag a +twist, and after a struggle managed to convey it to his breeches pocket +again. + +"What will my old woman say," he continued, "when I tells her o' this? +she as nussed him as a foal, and said he'd never get fat like me. It's +heart-breaking to think on. And there's Guardsman, the finest and +fastest hunter in England, just coming six; how will he be able to +carry him if he goes sticking mountains of flesh on like that?--he +can't do it. He'll have to ride in a seven-pound saddle; but I don't +let him do that, not if I knows it--he'd break his precious neck, and +then I should like to be told where Tim Mason would be, the old woman, +and all the kids. No seven-pound saddle for me. I ain't a-going to have +my boy a-smashing of hisself, and all because he will put flesh on. +He's the only one left of the old stock; it's time he married, and I +hope he will. I'm almost afraid to tell the old woman. Twelve stun +five!" he ejaculated, as he wended his way thoughtfully across the +yard; "it seems almost impossible." + +"Tim," said his master the next morning, "this idle life won't do for +me. I'm going over to France for three or four months. Would you like a +trip?" + +"Me, sir?" said the old man. "Why in course I should like to see them +mounseer fellows eat frogs, and taste their brandy, too." + +"Well, Tim, so you shall," replied George; "and look here, we will take +Guardsman and the gray with us. I will run them both at some of the +meetings. Young Harry shall go with us; he is a good rider, a light +weight, and can keep his mouth shut." + +"Yes, sir," said Tim. "He and I can do the horses as they ought to be +done, and a little work now will do them good." + +"Well," continued his master, "I'm off to London this afternoon to make +some arrangements. Travel the horses down to Southampton, and meet me +at the 'Dolphin,' in High Street, you know. Be there on Monday morning; +take saddles, clothing, and all you want. However, I need not tell you +all this, or of the necessity of keeping our movements a profound +secret." + +"No occasion--no occasion, sir; I'll be there. Huzza!" he exclaimed, as +soon as his master was out of hearing. "My words are coming +true--racing again, by all that's jolly! This is a proud day for me. My +boy will get into form again, I know he will. I should like to give him +a leg up once more, and see him set a field." So saying he waddled off +to inform his old woman, as he irreverently called her, of the change +about to take place. + +Some few days after this Bradon, his servants and horses, were located +in a quiet little village in Lower Brittany. + +"Well, Tim," said his master one morning, as the old stud-groom came in +to say the horses were well, and ask what exercise they were to take. +"What exercise?" said George; "why, I'll tell you. They are to go into +regular training; they are in pretty good fettle now, but they must be +better. We can do it in quiet here, without those confounded touts and +fellows watching us, as they would have done at home. I should have had +a scoundrel perched up in nearly every tree in the park if they knew +the game I was flying at. I have found out good ground here, and have +permission to use it. Now, Tim, I am going to astonish your weak +nerves. I need not caution you of the necessity of being silent. All +the races, I find, are over in France for the year; but, Tim, what do +you think? I have entered both the horses for the Grand Silverpool +Steeple-chase. I did it when I was in town the other day." + +"What!" said the astonished old man, "the Grand Silverpool?--my horses +going to run for the Grand Silverpool? Oh, Master George, this is a +joyful day. Guardsman will win it; he has never run, and if there is +any justice he must be put in light. But who is to ride him?" + +"Who?" returned his master. "For your life, Tim, not a word." And +pulling him closer by the arm, whispered: "MYSELF!" + +"You, sir?--but your weight, sir? Twelve stun five and your saddle. Oh, +no, Master George, that won't do." + +"Now, Tim, you are a clever fellow, but others are as knowing as you. +Look here. You see this weighing-chair; well, I bought that in London. +Now weigh me." + +The old man did as he was bid. "Why, sir," he exclaimed, after looking +at it, "only twelve stun one; four pounds lighter in less than a week, +and without exercise." + +"Or physic," continued Bradon. "Banting, Tim, Banting. No bread, no +butter, no sugar, no beer, no saccharine matter of any sort; plenty of +meat, biscuits, toast, claret, and seltzer-water. That is my diet, and +I never felt so well. If wanted I shall be able to ride eleven stone +with the greatest ease." + + * * * * * + +In a luxuriously-furnished dining-room, some three months after the +events which we have described, five or six gentlemen were discussing +their wine. + +"I cannot make it out," said a heavy-built man of five-and-forty or so; +"I have tried everything I know, and am not a bit the wiser than when I +began. This Bradon is a most extraordinary fellow. I took the trouble +of going down to Dorsetshire myself, and all I could arrive at was that +Bradon was travelling. The servants knew nothing, or would know +nothing. They were aware the stud-groom had gone and taken two horses +and a lad with him; that was all I could get out of them. Well, I went +to the groom's house and saw his wife. She looked at me, and received +me as if I had been a thief. It was a regular mull. That Bradon has got +two horses with him I am certain; but what they are, and where they +are, hang me if I can find out. I have tried every tout and stable in +the kingdom, but to no purpose, so I have given it up as a bad job." + +"Ah!" replied a fashionably-dressed and bewhiskered young man, "with +all your cleverness and knowing dodges, you are bowled out, old boy. I +know a little more than you. In my opinion George Bradon is training +his horses quietly somewhere for the Silverpool. Both are well in, and +the handicap has been accepted by him. He is a knowing hand, is Bradon. +Now, I got hold of a letter written to a friend of his just before he +left England. No matter how or where I got it, this is what he says." +And opening his pocket and taking out a letter he read the following:-- + + Bradon Hall, Nov. 1st. + + "DEAR JACK, + + "In answer to yours of this morning I am sorry I cannot accept your + kind invitation. I'm off on a bit of travelling, for I am not at + all in form. Fancy my disgust on weighing myself yesterday morning + to find I was considerably over twelve stone--so you see an idle + life will not do for me. I shall go to France first; I may probably + remain there for some time. I have entered two nags for the + Silverpool. I must engage some one to ride one; it matters little + who will get the second mount, as he will merely be wanted to make + running for the one I declare to win with. + + "Yours, ever, + + "GEORGE BRADON." + +"There!" he exclaimed, "you see I know more than all of you. As for +Bradon's riding, that is an utter impossibility, for both horses are in +at ten twelve, and it is equally impossible to get any good hand to +ride them now, as all are engaged." + +"By George, Fred!" exclaimed the first that had spoken, "you have done +wonders, but still I can make nothing of it. No end of odds have been +offered against his nags for win or a place, and all have been eagerly +taken up by the fellows of his old regiment. Why, Plunger alone stands +to win over ten thousand. However, the horses are really coming into +the betting, which they must not do. I must go down to the rooms +to-morrow and give them such a tickler that will knock them out at +once. It will not suit my book their taking prominent places in the +market. By heaven! if either of them was to pull through I should be a +ruined man, and others are in for double as much as I am." + +"My dear fellow," put in a quiet, sly-looking little man, who had not +yet spoken, "you should not do such rash things. Flukes do happen--not +that it is likely in this case. I always wait till the last moment, and +then come with a rush when I know things are pretty safe." + +"Come with a rush," replied a tall, delicate-looking stripling; "a +pretty rush you made of it last year. You prevented my getting on, and +not only put me in the hole, but every one else who attended to you." + +"I could not help it, my dear boy," returned the other, with a crafty +smile. "There is no occasion for you to ruin yourself too quickly, +which you will do if you go on in such a reckless manner." + +"Reckless manner!" passionately exclaimed the young fellow; "why, you +have had more of my money than any one else. Where others have had +pounds you have had thousands, and now you talk to me of +'recklessness.' That is rather hard lines." + +"I meant no harm," replied the other. "I only think it is dangerous to +lay against Bradon's horses at present." + +"No doubt you do," said the youth, a little pacified; "but I do not +mean to take your advice in this case, and to-morrow, if I do not knock +them out of the betting it shall not be my fault." + +So it was settled between them all over their wine and cigars that +Bradon's horses should be set at on the morrow and sent out of market. + +They were attacked, and such extravagant sums laid against them that +astonished every one, many of which odds were booked by Lord Plunger +and a few others. + +How this came about we will now explain. Lord Plunger, as before +stated, thought George Bradon "the finest cross-country rider in +Europe," and from a letter which Bradon sent in confidence to his +lordship, he started for France. Here Bradon put him up to what was +going on, and asked him to take some of the heavy odds offered against +Guardsman "to win and a place." + +"I won't have anything to do with it myself," remarked George. "You are +a betting-man, Plunger, which I am not; but I will have one more shy, +hit or miss. This will be my last appearance in public in the pigskin. +I don't admire the way in which matters are carried on in the racing +world now; and I am not going to risk my fortune and reputation in +having any more to do with it. Of course there are honest people +connected with it, but they--like angels' visits--are few and far +between; and besides, I know nothing of betting, but this I feel sure +of, that such a horse as mine has not been out for years." + +"That," said his lordship, "I am quite certain of, or you would not run +him, and you are too good a judge to be deceived. You may depend on my +doing all you wish. I shall be as silent as death on the subject, and +not a word shall escape me. Let me see"--consulting his note-book--"I +am to go as far as five hundred for you; that ought to win you a +handsome sum. I shall go as far for myself. You are to come to me four +days before the Silverpool, and I am to take you there in the drag. +That is the order of march, is it not?" + +"Exactly," said George. "Now let's have a cigar--you have plenty of +time before you start. If you have any luck you will be sitting _chez +vous_ to-morrow evening." + +It turned out as his friend predicted. The following evening Lord +Plunger was comfortably lolling in his arm chair, thinking what a +clever fellow Bradon was, and how secretly his own journey to France +had been managed. This then was the reason Lord Plunger had taken some +of the extravagant long odds that had been laid against Bradon's horse. + +The morning of the Grand Silverpool broke bright and beautiful; though +there had been a good deal of rain during the night, it had cleared +off, and the day promised to be all that could be desired. + +Bradon and Lord Plunger sat at breakfast in a quiet little country +hotel some ten miles from the course. + +"Well, George," said his lordship, "so far, I think we have managed +things admirably, not a soul knows of your being in England. They +fondly imagine you are roaming about the Continent, and, to crown all, +a rumour has got about that your horses will not start, and will be +scratched at the last minute. It was a capital idea our coming down +here last night." + +"Yes," replied Bradon, "it was a famous dodge; so they think the horses +will be scratched, do they? Well, it strikes me they will be slightly +deceived about three o'clock to-day. Nothing can be in more beautiful +fettle than the nags are, and if man ever had a certainty I have one in +Guardsman; although I have had no trial with him against anything else, +he is, I know, a flyer, and a sticker. It will be heavy to-day, and no +horse I ever rode goes better through dirt than he does. Bar accidents, +I look on the Silverpool as landed." + +"Bravo, bravo, George!" said his friend; "your heart is in the right +place, and if we should pull it off, it will be one of the grandest +_coups_ that has been made on the Turf for many a day. We will go +in half an hour, if you like, to look at your nags. They are only three +miles from this, at a quiet farmhouse; then we will return here, dress, +and start at twelve in the drag." + +The horses were inspected, and nothing could look more beautiful. Tim +was in his glory. + +"Yes, my lord," said he, in answer to a question put to him by that +gentleman. "I am glad to be back in the old land, not but what the +Moossoos was very jolly and haffable. Still, France ain't up to my +notions of a sporting country; but we was in quiet there--no touts, no +interlopers, or anything. Now, if I'd a-brought the horses down here by +rail, every one would have knowed it; so they came in a van. It's a +little more expensive, but by far the best and safest way. Not a soul +knows they are here, and no one will be aware of it till I takes them +to the saddling-post. I'm just going to start with them now. I've got a +couple of boxes close by the course, so you must excuse me, my lord." +And, touching his hat, the old man disappeared. + + * * * * * + +"Whose yellow drag and grays is that coming up the course?" said one of +the occupants of the lawn in front of the Grand Stand. "I do not know +it." A dozen glasses were at once levelled at the object. + +"Whose drag?" said the sly-looking little man we have alluded to +before. "Why, Lord Plunger's. George Bradon is sitting on the box seat +with him, and the rest are officers of his old regiment--I know their +faces." + +"By jingo!" burst out a score of voices: "then he is in England, and +come to see his horses run, or scratch them. Now we shall know +something." + +"I wonder if he will be flattered when he hears the price his nags are +at now?" said another. + +"He will not care a rap," said the sly-looking little man. "Look out, +my boys, there's something up, you may depend. Bradon, if his horses do +go, has something pretty good, you may rely. I warned you all before. +Now, I have not laid a penny against his nags. I have let them +alone--till the last minute. But here they come." + +"Hallo, Bradon!" burst out fifty voices. "What, in England! Come to see +the nags beaten?" + +"Well, I do not know," said George, shaking hands with some of them. "I +hope they will be there, or thereabouts; pretty heavy the ground +to-day. My horses can stand it, which a good many of the others +cannot." + +"Are your horses here?" said the sly-looking little man. + +"Not yet," returned Bradon, "but they will be by-and-by. Old Mason has +got them stowed away somewhere; but upon my soul I don't know where +they are myself at present." + +"Which shall you declare to win with?" asked the sly-looking little man +continuing his interrogations. + +"Oh, with Guardsman," said George. + +"And your jocks?" put in another. "All the talent is engaged. A pity +you are so heavy--why, you've grown immense. You will want a dray-horse +to carry you soon." + +"Think I have?" said George. "It's my coats, man. Every fellow looks +large with a couple of top-coats on, and a huge-wrapper round his +throat. I know all the talent is engaged. One of my lads will ride the +gray." + +"I say, Bradon," put in another, "I heard you weighed twelve stone +five; is that a fact?" + +"Yes," said George; "I put on sixteen pounds in less than two years--an +idle life at home did for me." + +"But, Bradon," persisted the sly-looking little man, "you say one of +your lads is going to ride the gray. But Guardsman--_who is to ride +him_?" + +"Oh," said George, "who is to ride him?--why, I will tell you in one +word, it's a fellow you all know pretty well--MYSELF." + +Had a thunderbolt fallen amongst them they could not have been more +astonished. + +"What!" they one and all exclaimed, "you? Why you told us not an +instant ago that you weighed twelve stone five." + +"No, my friends, I did not. I said, in answer to a question, that I +_had_ weighed twelve stone five. I told you I had put sixteen pounds +on, but I did not tell you I had not taken it off. I walk ten stone ten +now--Banting, my boys, Banting. And, listen to me, I shall win if I +can, and I have a good chance; but, win or lose, this is my last +appearance in public. I've grown immense, have I not, old fellow?" +addressing himself to the one who had made the remark. "I shall want a +dray-horse soon, shall I not?" + +"By G--," said the sly-looking little man, "I thought there was +something up. The very best hand in England going to ride his own +horse. I'll be off to back him." + +The tall youth before alluded to turned deadly pale, but not a word did +he utter as he walked away. + +In less than five minutes it became known in the ring and the stands +that George Bradon was to ride his own horse. The utmost consternation +ensued and many tried to hedge off their bets--but little or nothing +could be done. + +In the meantime our friend was quietly getting himself ready in the +dressing-room. + +The time at last came, the horses were saddled, and cantered. + +"Here comes Guardsman," cried the crowd, as the gallant horse came +sweeping up the course in magnificent style, with the gray beside him. + +"By heaven!" muttered a well-known betting-man, and one of the best +judges in Europe, "a truly splendid horse--far better in appearance and +style than anything here. Bar accidents, he will win in a canter, and +if he does, I'm ruined." + +The betting and other men were positively paralyzed as Bradon and his +horse came sweeping by, and it was allowed on all hands that no such +animal as Guardsman had been seen for years. + +"There, my boys," said Lord Plunger, dashing into the ring, "there's a +man and horse for you. If he does not do the trick to-day I shall be +very much astonished; and if he does, we shall both land a handsome +sum, which you will drop." + +The anxious moment is at last come, the horses are in line--the old +stud-groom, Tim Mason, stands close by, with wipers, sponge, and bottle +in hand. There is a curious nervous twitching at the corners of his +mouth, the lips are dry and parched, and two small red spots adorn each +cheek. + +Not so with our friend. He sits his noble animal with confidence, ease, +and grace, and as cool as a cucumber. Spying out his faithful old +servant, he said, "What do you think of him, Tim?" + +"Why, sir," he called out, "he's the best horse as was ever foaled; and +if he don't beat that lot"--pointing with extreme contempt towards the +line of horses--"Tim Mason knows nothing about it, and is jolly well +d----d." + +The word is at last given, and at the first attempt the lot are off. + +"They're off!" shouted the hoarse voices of thousands, and streaming +along were some thirty gallant animals striving for the pride of +place--thousands, nay hundreds and hundreds of thousands, depending on +the lucky animal that first caught the judge's eye. + +The conspicuous colours of George Bradon--scarlet and white hoops--were +in the extreme rear, but suddenly as they got into the grass land his +gray took first place and made the pace a cracker. + +"The gray in to pump the field," muttered the sly-looking little man to +his neighbour. + +"The fastest thing I have ever seen," said another. "By jingo, one, +two, three down, and look, Bradon is taking quite a line of his own. By +George, how well his horse jumps; it's a dead certainty." + +"So I think," returned the other. + +There is an awful tailing off now, the pace has told its tale; only +eighteen or twenty are really in it. The dangerous brook and the double +bank are passed, and the gallant gray who has set the field has shot +his bolt. + +"Well done, Harry," cried George, as he passed him. "Well done, pull +him up." + +The great water jump in front of the Grand Stand is approached again. +"Here they come!" roared the multitude. "Who's first? Scarlet and white +hoops," cried the excited thousands--"scarlet and white over the water +first for money!" + +George knowing the danger of a lot of horses, which he thought would be +down at this, resolved to lead over it. Dropping his hands a bit the +gallant animal rushed to the front, a length or so, and there he was +kept. + +The water is approached, the excitement of the multitude is something +fearful as they sway to and fro to catch a glimpse. + +"Magnificent!" burst from thousands of throats, as Guardsman hopped +over the formidable eighteen feet like a bird. + +George turned slightly in his saddle to take stock. "All safe but +three," he uttered; "well, that is more than I thought would get over. +Now, old man, I must take a pull at you. You have only done part of the +journey. I can't afford to pump you yet." + +"Guardsman has cut it," shouted a hundred voices as the gallant horse +was pulled back. + +"The cowardly brute!" bawled another. + +"Don't you believe it," cried the sly-looking little man, in a shrill +voice that was heard all over the place. "I'll take three to one in +thous, and do it twice, that Guardsman wins, or is placed." + +"Done," said the pale delicate youth; "I'm on for twice." And the +pencils went to work. + +There was but one opinion amongst the countless thousands that +Guardsman was the best horse in the race, and that, bar accidents, he +must win. + +The field has become very select now; still what do remain in the chase +go well. + +The excitement is intense; men are gnawing their lips and nails; ladies +are quivering with emotion and biting the tips of their +delicate-coloured gloves. + +Wild and staring eyes are everywhere. Men eagerly grasp each other by +the arm with a wild convulsive clutch as the horses clear each +obstacle. Some stand stony and immovable, without the slightest +appearance of interest. Little is known of the fearful beatings of +their hearts under that cold, calm exterior. + +"Here they come!" said the crowd, as some eight or ten horses make the +turn for home. + +"Guardsman baked!" shouts the ring, as the horse is seen nearly last. + +"The Irish horse wins for a thousand," shouts an over-excited +speculator. + +"Done," says the sly-looking little man, and again the metallics are at +work. + +Lord Plunger looks on with a calm indifferent demeanour. + +"By G--, Plunger," said one of George's old messmates, with a scared +countenance, "Bradon is done. We shall all drop finely." + +"Wait!" was the quiet answer. + +The last hurdle but one is taken, which the Irish horse jumps first; +but what a change has taken place in the field! Scarlet and white +hoops, instead of being nearly last, is hanging on the leading horse's +quarters, and it is very patent to all those skilled in racing matters +that from the manner Guardsman skimmed over the hurdle the other horse +was only permitted to lead on sufferance. + +Turn where you will, the same look of intense excitement is discernible +on every countenance; the vast mass surges to and fro, the hoarse +murmur of the frenzied multitude has something unearthly in it. + +"The Irish horse wins,--Guardsman wins!" is shouted on all sides. The +horses come up closely locked together; never moving on his horse +Bradon sits as quiet as a statue, but the heels of the other horseman +are at work; the whip arm is raised, but just as it is the strain on +Guardsman's jaws is relaxed, and the noble horse, without the slightest +effort, quits the other, and is landed an easy winner by some +half-dozen lengths. + +"There," said Lord Plunger, heaving a vast sigh, which seemed to +relieve him immensely; "did you ever see such a horse, and such a bit +of riding?" + +His lordship is not calm now; there is a wild feverish light in his +eyes; he trembles, too, slightly; a bright hectic spot is on either +cheek, and the veins in his temples are swollen, and seem ready to +burst as he takes off his hat to draw his hand across his clammy brow. + +"Thank God!" he muttered, as he turned to meet his friend, who was +returning to the weighing-stand, amidst such shouts as are seldom +heard. Cheer after cheer rent the air. + +"God bless you, old fellow!" said his lordship, as his friend passed +him in the enclosure; "there never was, and never will be, such a +Silverpool again. I will never bet another farthing! I'm square again." + +George is now dismounted. Taking the saddle off his noble favourite, as +he has it on one arm, he fondly and proudly pats his neck. Tim is +standing at the horse's head, with a rein in each hand; tears are +coursing down the old man's cheek. "God spare you many years, sir!" +said he to his master, who looked kindly at him; "but never ride +another race whilst I am alive; I can't bear it; one more day such as +this would be my last." + +George entered the weighing-room. "Guardsman, ten twelve," said he, +seating himself in the chair. + +The clerk of the scales approached with book in hand and pencil in +mouth, looking up to the dial for an instant said, "Right!" + +Cheer after cheer rent the air again as he came out in his top-coat. + +"For God's sake, George, come to the drag and have some champagne; I'm +ready to faint," said Lord Plunger, as he seized his arm. + +"Come on, then," returned Bradon; "I'm thirsty too; but just let me +look to the horse and Tim first." + +But Tim had clothed the horses up, as he said the boxes were only +a few paces off, and they would be better dressed there. As he +turned to follow Lord Plunger, he was seized by a host of his old +companions-in-arms, hoisted up, and carried to the drag on their +shoulders. + +"Bradon," said Lord Plunger, after he had drained off a silver goblet +of the sparkling wine, "we have pulled out of this well, right well; +for myself, I have now done with betting and the Turf. I have been hit, +and hard hit, but this _coup_ more than squares me. I'll tempt the +fickle goddess no more." + +"My decision you knew long ago," returned his friend. "This is my last +appearance in public. I shall only hunt, and I think with such a horse +as Guardsman I may be a first-flight man." + +His lordship and Bradon were ever afterwards only lookers-on at the few +race-meetings they attended, and here we must take leave of them. + +In a snug little cottage close by Bradon Hall lives Tim Mason, now +rather an infirm old man; still he looks after the stud as usual. + +In his pretty little parlour, on a side table, stand two glass cases. +Under one is a saddle, bridle, &c., in the other a satin racing jacket +and cap--scarlet and white hoops. It may easily be divined whose they +were. + +"They were only used once," he would say, pointing them out to some +friend who had dropped in to see him, "only once; but they won a pot of +money for my boy. Lord, you should have seen him ride and win that +Silverpool--it was a sight for sore eyes, I can tell you. Never were +two better horses than Guardsman and my gray. It's rather the ticket to +see them in the field now; they're the best hunters as ever was +foaled." + + [This story was first published in _Baily's Magazine_ (1870).--ED.] + + + + +A CUB-HUNTING INVITATION + + +_Monday._--Received letter from POWNCEBY. "Come down to my little place +and we'll do a morning's cubbing. Can mount you. Say Tuesday night by +6.5, and I'll meet you at Chickenham Station." Deuced good of POWNCEBY. +Hardly known him a week. Will wire at once to accept. + +_Tuesday._--Go down by 6.5 train. Pouring all the way. Wonder how far +Chickenham is. Inquire, and am told next station. POWNCEBY receives me +on platform. Awfully dark and still raining. Hope he has brought closed +carriage of some sort. Hate open carts this weather. POWNCEBY greets me +heartily. Seems a deuced good chap this. So thoroughly pleased to see +me. "My little place only a short step from here, so hope you won't +mind walking? Porter will take your bag. Yes, the roads _are_ a bit +muddy, but that's nothing. Ready? We'll start, then." Don't think +walking is quite in my line, especially on pouring wet night. We trudge +along dark lane, splashing into deep puddles at every other step. +"Don't mind going a little out of our way, do you?" says POWNCEBY, +"must just run into the butcher's and the grocer's to take a few things +home with me." We diverge into dimly-lit street. POWNCEBY disappears +into shop, leaving me standing outside. Seems to be at least an hour in +grocer's; another ten minutes in butcher's. My teeth chattering now. +Start again, and walk on and on. Ask, "Where's your place, are we +anywhere near it?" "Oh, close by," says POWNCEBY, cheerily. Trudge on +again; wet through by this time. Am seriously marshalling supply of +cuss-words into their places for use in the near future, when POWNCEBY +suddenly grips my arm, dropping pound of sausages from under his own at +same moment. They fall into puddle. "There's my little place, old +chap." Wish he wouldn't "old chap" me. Hardly know the fellow, and +begin to hate him now. He picks up sausages, and repeats, "there's my +little place; jolly little crib, ain't it?" Fear POWNCEBY is vulgar, +never noticed it before. Can just see feeble light in cottage window, +apparently miles off. Murmur, faintly, "Oh, I see," and struggle along +again. My boots like wet paper, now, and trying to imitate suction +pump. Do rest of journey silently. Cottage at last. POWNCEBY lifts +latch, and we enter. Smell of lamp-oil overpowering. POWNCEBY's "little +place" is labourer's four-roomed cottage, and singularly dirty at that. +Met by aggressive elderly female, even dirtier than cottage. POWNCEBY +silently hands her mud-stained sausages and two chops, wrapped in +newspaper. I don't exactly dine, says POWNCEBY to me, "I have supper, +you know; same thing, only different name. Being a bachelor, I make no +fuss with anyone." Rather wish he would. "Come upstairs and put +yourself straight. Mind that loose board. Not 'up to weight,' as we +say, eh?" Avoid loose plank and stumble upstairs into sloping-roofed +attic. Painted wooden bedstead; ditto washstand. Smells musty. Paper +peeling off walls, and ceiling coming down in patches. I shudder, and +ask when I may expect portmanteau. "Oh, in about an hour, I daresay. +Got all you want? Sure that you're _quite_ comfortable?" _Mem._ This +man evidently an unconscious humorist. Have to borrow (greatly against +my will) some dry clothes of POWNCEBY's in absence of my own. Wash, and +descend ricketty stairs to sitting room. Fire smokes. "Like me," says +POWNCEBY, facetiously, and laughs uproariously. Must have _very_ keen +sense of humour, this man. Aggressive female enters with two chops +(fried) and ditto sausages; small jug of table beer and tinned loaf +complete picture. "Let's fall to," says POWNCEBY; "you see your meal +before you. None of your French dishes for me!" (_Mem._ nor for me +either, unfortunately,) "but, good, plain, English food, eh?" Do not +reply, but attack sausage. Decline fried chop. Beer turgid; leave it +untasted; Thank goodness, my portmanteau arrives during repast. Pay +porter half-a-crown--looks as if he had earned it. POWNCEBY finishes +off my chop and his own too, smacks his lips, and produces bottle of +"cooking" brandy. I light cigar, and take one sip of the brandy. Find +one sip more than satisfying and do not try another. "Got a nice horse +for you, to-morrow," says POWNCEBY; "he ain't a beauty, but a real good +'un. Useful horse, too. Does all the chain-harrowing and carting work. +Must start at 5 A.M. sharp and get breakfast afterwards." I nod. Am +past the speaking stage now. Retire to bed, damp and shivering, and +very hungry. Find mouse seated on dressing table, regarding me +contemptuously. Shy boot at him. Miss mouse, but smash mirror. Feel +glow of unholy satisfaction at this. Toss about all night. + +_Wednesday._--Rise 4.30, dress by candle-light, and crawl down stairs. +Ask POWNCEBY where are horses? "Oh, we'll walk round to the stable for +'em," says POWNCEBY. Plod through many puddles, and enter evil smelling +shed. Labourer saddling melancholy grey, elaborately stained on both +quarters. "There you are, and as good as they make 'em." Don't know who +"they" are, but wish "they" would "make 'em" a little cleaner. Mount, +and am joined by POWNCEBY on equine framework. Beginning to rain again. +"This is jolly, eh?" he says. "Oh, awfully," I reply, feebly, as my +wreck nearly blunders down on to his fiddle head. Arrive at meet 6.30. +"Oh, the 'ounds 'as bin gorn this 'arf hour or more. The meet was at +six," says a yokel. + +POWNCEBY borrows fiver on road home. Caught 10.15 back to town, and if +ever----! + + + + +TOLD AFTER MESS + + +"You want to hear the story, eh?" + +Loud chorus of subalterns: "No!" + +"All right, then, that settles your fate, and you shall!" and I lit a +cigar preliminary to starting the yarn. + +"Well do I remember the episode. It was a cut-throat country that we +had to ride over. Many of my soldier comrades, brave and true, fell +that day thickly around me--but as they all got up again, it did not +really so much matter." + +Having deftly dodged a sofa-cushion shied at my head by way of a gentle +hint to "get forrard," I dropped from airy heights to the sober realms +of fact, and proceeded to tell my plain unvarnished tale. + +"After hunting for ten years with a pack belonging to a Cavalry +regiment--let us call it the 'Heavyshot Drag'--the Fates (and Taylor & +Co.) removed me into a far country, and but for the kindness of some +members of the hunt, who often asked me up and gave me a mount, I +should have known the Heavyshot no more, as it was too far to bring any +of my own select stud--consisting of a musical one, with three legs and +a swinger, a bolter with a blind eye, and a 13.2 pony!--up for the +gallop. And what jolly gallops they always were, too! + +"One day I got a wire from my excellent friend Major Laughton, who was +then Master of the Heavyshot, 'Come up, Friday. Lunch mess. Hounds meet +Pickles Common.' To which, in the degenerate language of the times, I +wired reply, 'You bet,' and one P.M. on the day named found my breeched +and booted legs beneath the mahogany of the hospitable mess room. + +"Major Laughton, in greeting me, said, 'So sorry, my dear boy, I can't +give you my second horse, as he's all wrong to-day--a severe "pain +under the pinafore" has floored him. But I've got you a gee from--well, +never mind where from, I know he can jump.' And with these words the +conversation dropped. As to where my mount came from--well, it was no +concern of mine, was it? I thought I noticed a slight deflection of the +gallant Major's left eyelid when he was speaking, but that, after all, +might have been my fancy. + +"After putting in some strong work over the luncheon course, we lit +cigars, and in a few minutes both horses and hounds appeared on the +parade ground. My horse with the mysterious origin was a good-looking +bay, who carried his head in the 'cocky' fashion beloved of +riding-masters, and proved a very pleasant hack. We jogged along and +soon reached the meet. + +"The usual scene of eagerness and excitement, hounds supplying the +latter element, whilst the superior animal, man, jostled his fellows +consumedly, in his natural desire to 'get off the mark' as soon as +decency and the Master permitted. The last-named held forth vigorously +to us, as with a 'Tow-yow-yow!' hounds dashed across the first field, +and jumped, scrambled, or squeezed through the first fence. + +"'Let 'em get over before you start, bless you all! Come back there, +you man on the grey! What the saintly St Ursula are you doing? All +right, now you can go, and be past-participled to you all!' + +"And away we went as if His Satanic Majesty had assisted us with the +toe of his boot! Swish! and the first fence, long looked at and much +disliked, is a thing of the past; horses pull and bore to get their +heads as we sail down a stiffish hill and over a broad ditch at the +bottom. My horse drops one hind leg in, and loses a couple of lengths +by the performance. Up a slight slope we stand in our stirrups--to ease +our horses, _bien entendu_--not to look at the forbidding obstacle in +front of us, oh dear no! a post and rails, with no top bar broken +anywhere, and what I hear a groom behind me calling a 'narsetty' great +ditch on the landing side. Our gallant first Whip crams his horse at +it, and but for the animal's forgetfulness in leaving both hind legs +the wrong side, would have led over in great style; but 'tis an ill +wind which blows nobody any good, and those legs break the top rail for +us. Did I follow the Whip over a bit close? Well, I hope not; verdict, +'not guilty, but don't do it again.' Two flights of hurdles and a +ploughed field bring us to the main road. We jump into, and out of, +this, leaving two of our number as 'bookmakers'--_i.e._, 'laying on +the field.' On we go again over about three miles of pretty hunting +country, with nice, plain-sailing fences; then comes a stile, at which +one refusal and two 'downers' still further reduces the field; and, +with another flight of hurdles surmounted, we come to a check. Oh, the +shaking of tails and blowing of nostrils! the 'soaping' of reins and +the sweat on the foam-flecked bodies of the poor gees! + +"'Horses seem to have had about enough of it, don't you think so?' said +a man who had pulled up just alongside of me. + +"I turned in my saddle to answer, when, without the slightest warning, +and giving vent to a groan which I seem to hear still, my horse +suddenly fell to the ground. A dozen men slipped off their horses to +lend a hand. We quickly unbuckled the girths and pulled the saddle off, +but, even as we did so, I saw the glazing eye, which told unmistakably +that the poor old chap had done his last gallop and jumped his last +fence. He was as dead as Julius Cæsar! + +"'By Jove, and it's one of the Queen's, too!' exclaimed an impetuous +Subaltern. + +"'Shut up, you young ass!' quickly rejoined his Major in low tones, and +the good youth incontinently closed the floodgates of his eloquence +just as an enormous man, Colonel de Boots, in command of the Cavalry +depôt, who had driven out to see the fun, pushed his way through the +little crowd assembled round the 'stiff un' in order to tender his +advice. + +"It was a tight place for those concerned, but the tension was quickly +relaxed when, instead of looking at the horse, he turned to me and +said, 'Deuced sorry _for your loss_, really--most annoying. My wife +will be delighted to give you a seat in her carriage. My servant shall +look after your horse until----' + +"'Not for worlds, sir,' I replied hastily, 'that is all arranged for. +But if you will really be so good as to take me to Mrs de Boots' +carriage, and if she would not mind my entering it in this very muddy +condition----?' + +"'Delighted; come along with me!' We walked off, and the situation was +saved. + +"Only temporarily, though. I blandly received Colonel and Mrs de Boots' +condolences on the loss of _my_ horse all the way home to Barracks, and +I heard afterwards that they thought I 'took it in very good part.' The +moment I was released from their carriage, after thanking them warmly +for picking me up as they had done, I took to my heels and ran down to +Major Laughton's quarters. + +"'Here's a pretty mess, my boy!' he exclaimed; 'there'll have to be a +Board to "sit on" the departed, to-morrow, and report in what way he +came to his "frightful end," as the newspaper Johnnies call it. Which +_is_ his "frightful end," by the way?' he added in meditative tones. + +"'Give it up; ask me another,' I rejoined, with a grin. 'But, +seriously, will there be an awful row when it comes out that we were +hunting one of Her Majesty's?' + +"'Well, naturally, a Paternal Government doesn't provide hunters for +"all and sundry." Come along with me: we'll see the Vet., and find out +what can be done.' + +"Away we went to the Vet.'s office, and fortunately found him in. +Laughton related the whole affair to him, and wound up by saying, 'I +don't want you to do anything that isn't strictly right, you know; but +if you can see a way of helping us out of the difficulty, I shall be +awfully obliged. The worst of it is that it's a young horse--Bradford.' + +"'Bradford? Oh, no; I saw Bradford in his stall not ten minutes ago.' + +"'Are you sure of that?' + +"'Oh, perfectly.' + +"'How strange! I sent a man down to the stables this morning to tell +them to send Bradford up--but I'll ask him at once: he's just in the +yard there,' and the next minute we were eagerly questioning the +'Tommy' as he stood rigidly at attention. + +"'Did you tell them I wanted Bradford?' + +"'Yessir.' + +"'What did they say?' + +"'Said there was no such 'orse as Radford.' + +"'Bradford, I said.' + +"'Beg pardon, sir. Understood the name was Radford, and the +Sergeant----' + +"'Yes, the Sergeant, what did he say then?' + +"'Said I was a hass, sir----' + +"'Quite right, go on,' said the Major, encouragingly. + +"'And that I must mean Radnor, and Radnor was the 'orse as was sent up, +sir.' + +"The Major turned on his heel without a word, and walked again into the +Vet.'s office, followed by me. The 'Tommy' remained at 'attention,' and +may be in the same attitude now, as far as I know. + +"'This is a relief, anyhow,' said Laughton, 'Radnor would have been +"cast" very soon, and so his sudden death won't be so surprising to the +Board.' + +"Up to this point the Vet. had been silent; now a smile hovered over +his face as he said, 'Leave the whole business to me, Major. Where's +the defunct?' + +"The Major described the place, and the interview ended, and we walked +back to Laughton's quarters." + + * * * * * + +"The Board assembled, and briefly, the result of their deliberations +was to find that the bay gelding Radnor was discovered dead in his +stall, the certified cause of death being fatty degeneration of the +heart." + + * * * * * + +"Yes, that's all very fine and large, but how the----? what the----? +when the----!!!" broke in a Babel of voices. + +"Hold on, boys, and you shall know one or two things which the Board +didn't know. Picture a scene in the barrack yard like this: a dark +night, moon only showing in fitful gleams now and then; a trolly with a +couple of horses; four stalwart Tommies and a sergeant-major seated on +the trolly; it rattles out of the barrack square and over some five +miles or so of road to the heath where the hero of the day breathed his +last. The trolly is drawn up on to the grass, and after a few minutes' +search the Sergeant-Major discovers the _corpus delicti_; with much +exertion it is hauled up on to the trolly, and the return journey +commences. + +"Just before the witching hour of midnight 'when sentries yawn and +Colonels go to bed'--Shakespeare freely transposed, boys, this--enter +the trolly to the stable yard again. The dead horse is hoisted out, put +in its stall, and the head-collar most carefully adjusted ('in case he +should get loose,' observed one Tommy to another, with an unholy grin). + +"All the actors in the little drama retire to imbibe liquid sustenance +'stood' by an invisible donor--peace reigns again all around the +barrack square, and----and that's the end. Waiter, bring me a whiskey +and soda, and some matches." + + + TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Sporting Society, Vol. II (of 2), by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40302 *** |