Men We Meet in the Field; or, The Bullshire HoundsBagot, A. G.
General
Men We Meet in the Field; or, The Bullshire Hounds
Bagot, A. G.
Hunting -- Anecdotes; Hunting -- Great Britain; Hunting -- Humor
Into the osiers they crash, and a "Tally-ho!" from Story on the far side
shows them to be close behind their fox. "For'ard, for'ard, for'ard
away," screams Tom, blowing the hounds out of the covert; and in the
second field it is all up, and Tom is off his horse in the middle of the
pack, with Story and five others only there to see. As the remainder of
the field gallop up by twos and threes our friend takes his watch out,
and, addressing the Master, says: "Best thing I've seen for many a
day--fifty-three minutes with hardly a check. 'Pon my honour, it's
marvellous that so few of us came to grief. Awful stiff country. Give
you my word, I thought I should break my neck every fence."
"Could not afford to lose such a sportsman as you, Story," replies Sir
John, laughing and turning to Tom. "Here, give Mr. Story the brush; it's
worthy of a place in his den."
"Right, sir," says Tom; but he winks at Charles and whispers: "There'll
be a fine tale over this one, I'll lay."
Story is dining out that night, so he does not accompany them to find
their second fox, but by the time the ladies have come into the
drawing-room and the chairs are drawn round the fire, the fifty-three
minutes have grown to an hour and twenty minutes, and the deeds of
daring performed by himself have increased in proportion. As he drives
home he turns it over in his own mind whether another hat and peg shall
not be added to the relics between the window, with the glorious history
of "the crumpler over Brown's rails" attached thereto. But he eventually
decides, as so many of the field saw him at the finish with his
headpiece in its normal condition, that perhaps on the whole it would be
better not.
This, however, does not prevent him from entering a full and true (?)
account of the run to Watson's osiers in his hunting-diary, and
executing a small yet carefully-drawn map of the country, with crosses
marked thereon denoting the locality of some of the terrific obstacles
he encountered--and negotiated in safety.
Should the conversation turn on hunting (which it is pretty certain to
do) while smoking the post-prandial cigar in Story's sanctum, he will
read a few extracts from this diary, which the assembled guests may
believe or not--as they like.
HODGE.
"Which is the way to Langley, my good man?" asks Mr. Tyrol of a
countryman he overtakes on his way to the meet. Mr. Tyrol, who is a
stranger to the Bullshire, and has come down just to look at the country
and see what it is like with a view to future operations, as yet does
not know his way about, so is glad of any information he can obtain as
to the most direct route.
"Yew mun tak furst turnin to right till yer com' to smithy, then keep
straight on past Jack Spender's down t' green lane, but mind yer dunna
mistake t' road past ould Betty Wilson's cottage, and then you're sure
to be right," replies the man, with a glance at his interlocutor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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