No one knows better than I the lonely feeling of being obliged to pull up in the middle of a good run because one's horse is beat, "while the merry chase goes heedless sweeping by." But if you have only one horse out, it is hopeless to compete with more fashionable souls who are on their fresh second horses, so it is really wiser to make the best of a bad job, and though you feel it hard, go home. Your horse will come out again the oftener, too, and you can enjoy a hunt but little, if you know you are asking more of your horse than you ought. A tired horse, too, makes a tired rider, and _that_ makes a sore back, and then--where are you? Talking of going home and tired horses, reminds me that if you are at all far from home it is best to put your horse in a public, or some friendly stable on the way, and give him a drink of gruel, for this will freshen him up and make your ride home all the pleasanter. Perhaps it would be as well to mention how the gruel should be made, in case you should ever have to do it yourself. Thus, place two double-handfulls of oatmeal in a bucket, pour boiling water over it and stir until it becomes a thick cream; then pour cold water till cool enough for the horse to drink, which will be when it is about blood heat. Should your horse be very done, add a pint of ale or a little gin, to revive him. The ride home is now shorn of some of its terrors, by the saddles which let you sit downhill. What a boon these are, for one used to suffer anguish, jogging for miles on the old-fashioned saddle whose pommels rose higher than the seat, so that your knee was almost under your chin, and the consequence was a pain between the shoulder blades, which made you long for rest. Oh! those long jogs home. Miles and miles at hounds' pace, on a rough or tired horse. How I used to pull up and walk, and then gallop to catch up my father, he jogging even on, even on, all the time. I can hear him now answering my complaints with, "nonsense, child; it rests one all the way." [Illustration: _GONE TO GROUND._ (_PORTRAITS OF FOUR B.V.H. PRIZE WINNERS._) (_From a picture by Basil Nightingale, in the possession of Lady Theodora Guest._)]