My First Fox Hunt.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 17, 9 March 1870, Page 7

My First Fox Hunt.

,9V AU OLD SPOttfSMAH. /Concluded.), Che morning dawned, and luckily it was ;lear and wight, without any 'frost or •now. At about ten o'plock, the hunting forty begay. to make preparations for a ■put. We were to, be driven to the meet, md mustered six" in aj.l—Katie and her ,uamma being two of the number, : and aeorge a third. The hounds had already assembled when tve reached the meet, a&d there was a very 'air field—some forty men in pink being present. I had brought a pair or jtwo of sord breeches, my tops, and a hunting cap with me,, so I was able to rig myself out tolerably ; but George was extensively got up in pink, and seemed to think n<j small beer of himself. Duke was being led about by Haeket, and looked a perfect picture, but rather too excited for a hunter, He formed a strange contrast with the jsteadygoing horses that were calmly standing around, and indicating by their manner pat that they were r-egular old stagers, but little disturbed by the sights and sounds around. I was quick enough to give Katie iny for mounting before George could io so, and L whispersd, "Now for your jloyas ,"" and received a nod and a smile that would have been enough to cause, me to lead a forlors. hope, had it been necessary, ~...— ——*■" I soon mounted ibesidei Katie, whom I:saw;- regarding JP£ witfi.& crutinizing eye, and*, looking* e^actljjfeil hose points wljtich jvpuid indicate a jfcj&d r good rider. W, \ik'-\ v£A\ If*"? " Why," she immediately oes George mean? You.can ride.fs-TjrelV s he, if not ; betteri Oh|J, you'll on't be afraid. \\ Disten !—is. ffot! that}'''*! Tally' ? Yes :. .soAhbw foj 4 a jscamperi" • The fox, it appeared, -had not 'to )e hunted out of his cover, but had endeavoured to steal away. No time was lost n bringing the pack on his':traces, when he cheering sound of the hounds in full bry burst upon the ears of the assembled porsemen. .. • ~ ~, ■ : Several grass fields were first ridden bver, and separating these were little twofeet fences, which were taken without any (difficulty by every horse in the field. I puke pulled vigorously, and obliged me |lo all I knew to prevent him running away. He flew over his fences as though they |vere twenty feet of water, and at each successive movement he seemed more and pore eager, Katie managed to keep betide me : her mare was a steady old hunter that moved over the ground without distressing herself much, and took her fences in the common order of things. I "Oh, what a beauty your horse is," laid Katie, " and how well you ride him. |see how jealous George is, for I'ye woft uy This was the last I saw of Katie on hat day, until my return home, for Duke Ivould not be denied, and in a great mea|ure went at a pace that suited him best, tie sprang onwards —=• bounding like. a cricket ball over the fences, and giving me great trouble to keep him well behind the Bounds. George, who was admirably fpounted, was riding about a hundred lards on my right hand-side, and about Iven with me. His horse was going quite easily, with the reins almost loose on his |eck, whilst he leaped his fences as though |iey were only,a few inches in height, I did not expect to keep pace with him for aijy length of time, for I feared that |)uke would soon get distressed, as he was going so much more than was necessary. I The fox had gone straight away, and at I great pace; and when we had been runling about half-an-hour there was not giore than a third of the field present. those who had made a bad start never round an opportunity of getting in again, §3 might have been the case if the fox ran jh a circle. George was now alongside me, |icl smiling at the eagerness of Duke, who fed not even yet settled down to. his work. W? were now approaching a stiff line of ftils, and I saw George smile in a selffttisfied way as he eyed them and gathered tW> his reins 'preparatory to putting his rse at them. I tried vainly to reduce uke's speed as ive approached the obstaje, but the effect was merely to throw him lit of his stride, so I allowed him to go m He rushed at the rails, aiul rose a StJe too late, so that lys .struck the top Pi his speed, however, was such that he ffoke the bar, and with only a stumble, covered himself on the other side. eorge's horse cleared the rails without j-y apparent difficulty, and was now halflozen lengths a-head of me. Duke, howrer did not like such a state of affairs, d very soon managed to get his head in >nt of George's horse. The pace at which we had been going, d the heavy state of the ground, to say thing of the stiff stone fences, had reced the followers near the hounds to out half-a-dozen. These were—George d myself, the second whip, and three gitlemen farmers, Several others were ■find us, but there were one or two some Bus off. ' / iTlie fox had led us into a valley, In the Horn of which was a stream. This I BW see like a silver thread winding round |>ut the meadows, Duke had gradually ,

settled down into a more steady style, and was now going along quietly. He cleared several stiff fences in a beautiful manner, topping thorn with a good six indies to spare. He was a very easy horse to sit at a leap, in spite of his and thus I managed to sit him " neatly." The hound* which were now two fields before me, seemed to have sighted the fox, for they raised their heads and dropped! their sterns as they broke from the line of scent, and eagerly rushed onwards. In front was the stream, a lino of stunted willows tracing out its course. In the last three or four hundred yards I had left George behind ; he seemed disinclined to follow the hounds, and was steering off to the right. The second whip also turned off to the left. Had I been a little more experienced, I should from these signs have expected that there was some obstacle in front, which was not to be easily surmounted ; but, as it was, I merely hecame puzzled. Upon entering the next, field, I saw the reason for their having diverged from a direct line, for the hounds were disappearing very rapidly in some ravine or watercourse, and again coming up on the opposite side. I pulled at Duke, using j my right hand, as Ha.cket had recommended, I and brought him to a"standstill on what I ! found was the bank of a stream. The j banks were steep, the water running about I four feet below their tops. The sides, how- : ever, were sound, and the breadth about f I should be far "ahead of everybody, A 'vision of Katie flashed across my mind as I looked at' the stream, and decided me to try what Duke would do. I selected the ..pest ground; took him some fifty yards -hack, and rushed him at the. river. When ■within a few yards' of it, he suddenly came to % stand, and then reared straight "up. I knew enough of the character of well--bred'horses to know that bullying was of S.O use, so I merely patted him as he came to the ground on. all-fours, and allowed him to remain still for.a few seconds. I then took .him as before, and, giving him his head, ran him at the same place. A.s I approached, it was exciting work, for I expected at each stride he would swerve or stop, but he pricked up his ears, and rather increased his speed ; so just touching him with my spur, I gave his head freedom, felt a jerk beneath me as though we had received a kick, a moment's interval, and then I was pitched forward almost on his neck. I shuffled back into the saddle, regained the stirrup that I had lost, and found myself on the far side of the stream, with Duke beneath me, striding along as though fresh from the stable ; whilst within a hundred yards of me were the pack of hounds, and scarcely twenty yards before them the fox, his brush low, and he feeble as a new-born cub. I remember thinking there must be some mistake, for it seemed so unlikely that of all the gentlemen who had joined the hunt, I alone should be near the hounds. But such is often the case during our lives : we have a turn of great luck now and then, which makes us think we could succeed in anything we undertook ; and then, again, our good fortune fails us, and we seem to be actually persecuted by circumstances over which we have no control. It was for me, however, now to acquit myself as best I could, so I jumped off Duke, and, running in amongst the hounds, laid hold of the fox, which was already half torn in pieces, threatening the yelling pack with my'hunting whip. I had not long to wait for assistance, for the second whip quickly made his way up to me, and taking the fox, proceeded leisurely to cut off its brush and head, and gave the carcase to the hounds. By this time about a dozen horse men had joined us, and soon afterwards the numbers increased. Duke and I were objects of considerable attention, for it >vas soon known to all present that I was the only man up at the finish ; besides which, my leap of the stream had been witnessed by many. The second whip gave the brush to the master of the hounds, who immediately came to me, and, presenting it, said, " I never saw one better won, sir ; your nag was as well ridden as a horse could be. I rather feared for my dogs at first, because I know what a hard mouth he has." I tied the brush to my saddle, and looked round for George, as I did not know my way home. I saw him talking with some friends at a distance, and apparently uninterested about the brush. T rode, up to him, as I wished to know how far it was from home, and whether he proposed putting up to gruel the horses. ' " Well," he said, as I came near, « you managed to pull up Duke at last." I saw his companions smile, as though they had just heard a good joke. "Yes," I said, " there was n,o difficulty in pulling up after the river was crossed." " When I saw him running away with you so, I feared he would break your neck, and that I should be in at the death, and held responsible for it." I saw at once that George, being rather jealous, wanted to detract from the merits I had gained by good riding, so I replied, " Come, George, when you have learned a little more about riding, you will be able to tell when a horse is running away from its rider, and when if is running away from you." The laugh was now turned against him, and he did not seem much pleased ; so, as

I did not wish to quarrel with him, I proposed that we ought to return homo, a3 friends wero coming'to dinner. 1 I.' .' '' Poor George ! ho was very sore about that day's hunting; for ho had often refused to rido Duke,, because he believed him to bo such a dangerous animal. lie bus long siaoo gone to his last home, poor fellow, whilst 1 own the property that should have been his. Katie won her gloves, and more besides, for she won my first lovo : and when, after ten years of rough campaigning, I was summoned from the East to attend to the estate which my uncle had left me, there I found Katie, young looking, and more beautiful than ever : and even now she is pleasant to look i at, though our eldest boyds about the same, age as I was when I won my first brush. He, too, is fast with the hounds, but, I am happy to say, not fast in any other way ; and as he tells me he has often thought my tale of a brush a good one, he has induced me to sit down, and, with my pen, " fight my battle o'er again,"