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 L I B RAR.Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVER5ITY 
 
 or ILLI NOIS 
 
 623 
 K365c 
 
 V. 1
 
 -b 
 
 A CRACK COUNTY,
 
 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 H novel 
 
 BY 
 
 MES. EDWAED KENNAED. 
 
 Author of 
 
 "Killed in the Open," "The Girl in the Brown Habit, 
 " A Real aooD Thing,"' etc., etc. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 YOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 F. V. WHITE & CO., 
 
 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C 
 
 1888.
 
 PRINTED BT 
 KBLLY AND CO., GATE STREET, LIKCOLK'S INN FIELDS, 
 AND KINGSTON-ON-TUAMES.
 
 8^5 
 
 Y.X 
 
 T 
 
 ^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. — A Very Select Hunt .... 1 
 
 II. jS'eCK or ISTOTHING . . . . 15 
 
 III. — The Mutual Adorationites Sustain an 
 
 Irreparable Loss . . . .31 
 
 IV. — Lord Littelbrane Feels Lonely . 45 
 
 y. — A Stranger in the Land ... 67 
 
 VI. — Oppressed by so much Grandeur . 83 
 
 VIL— "[N'ot Half a Bad Sort of Gent" . 94 
 
 VIII. — Longing for a Ride .... 107 
 
 "\ IX. — "Welcoming the Stranger . . .129 
 
 "^ X. — Cutting Them all Down . . . 145 
 
 (X XI. — General Prosieboy Comes to the Front 161 
 
 XII. — A Charming Woman . . . . 180 
 
 ^ XIII. — Love by Selection 194 
 
 ^ XIV.— He Won't Face Water . . . 218 
 
 XV. — The Pleasures of Hunting . . . 235
 
 pOfUb/cF^ JMEW J^OVEbS. 
 
 Now ready, the Seventh Edition of 
 
 " ARMY SOCIETY." By John Strange Winter, Author of 
 " Booties' Baby." Cloth gilt, 6s. ; also, picture boards, 2». 
 
 Also, Now Ready, in Cloth Gilt, Zs. &d. each. 
 
 "GARRISON GOSSIP," Gathered in Blankhampton. By John 
 Strange Winter. Also, picture boards, 25. 
 
 "A SIEGE BABY." By the same AUTHOR. 
 
 "IN THE SHIRES." By SIR RANDAL H. ROBERTS, Bart. Also, 
 picture boards, 2^. 
 
 "THE GIRL IN THE BROWN HABIT." A Sporting Novel. By 
 Mrs. Edward Kennard. Also, picture boards, 2s. 
 
 " BY WOMAN'S WIT." By Mrs. ALEXANDER, Author of " The 
 Wooing O't." Also, picture boards, 2*. 
 
 " MONADS CHOICE." By the same AUTHOR. 
 
 "KILLED IN THE OPEN." By Mrs. EDWARD KENNARD. Also, 
 picture boards, 2*. 
 
 "IN A GRASS COUNTRY." By Mrs. H. Lovett-CAMERON. 
 Also, picture boards, 2 s. 
 
 " A DEVOUT LOVER. By the same AUTHOR. 
 
 "THE OUTSIDER." By Hawley SMART, Also, picture boards, 2s. 
 
 "STRAIGHT AS A DIB." By Mrs. Edward Kennard. Also, 
 picture boards, 2s. 
 
 "TWILIGHT TALES." By Mrs. EDWARD KENNARD. (Illustrated.) 
 
 " SHE CAME BETWEEN." By Mrs. ALEXANDER ERASER. 
 
 " THE CRUSADE OF THE 'EXCELSIOR.' " By BRET Harte. 
 
 " CURB AND SNAFFLE." By Sir RANDAL H. ROBERTS, Bart. 
 
 " A REAL GOOD THING." By Mrs. EDWARD KENNARD, 
 
 " DREAM FACES." By THE HONBLE. MRS. FETHERSTONHAUGH. 
 
 F. V. WHITE & Co., 
 31, Southampton Street, Strand, London, W.O.
 
 A CRACK COUNTY 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 A VERY SELECT HUNT. 
 
 The real name of the Hunt was the Morbey 
 Anstead. 
 
 But in sporting circles it was always 
 called " The Mutual Adoration." In fact, 
 so generally was this latter appellation 
 employed that most people were apt to 
 forget it possessed any other. 
 
 As the " Mutual Adoration " they were 
 known far and wide, but altliough there 
 was not a finer country in Great Britain 
 than that which they had the good fortune 
 to hunt, the pack was not popular with 
 strangers. Year after year the same faces 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 might be seen at covert side ; very few new 
 ones ever appeared amongst them. 
 
 Eich young men with large studs, plenty 
 of money and a desire to get rid of it, such 
 as are invariably welcome in most country 
 places ; ofllcers spending their long leave ; 
 fathers of families, hampered by the care 
 of so many young ones, but as keen about 
 hunting as ever, did not choose Morbey 
 Anstead as their head-quarters. 
 
 This was the more remarkable, because 
 the town itself offered many advantages. 
 It was clean, healthy, well situated on the 
 top of a breezy hill, and moreover abund- 
 antly stocked with good inns and excellent 
 stabling. But alas ! both inns and stables 
 stood empty. 
 
 And yet people who had been to Morbey 
 Anstead once, never complained -of it as a 
 bad place from which to enjoy the chase. 
 On the contrary, they praised it highly ; 
 but what they did complain of very loudly
 
 A VERY SELECT HUNT. 3 
 
 and very bitterly, were the manners of tlie 
 " Mutual Adoration " Hunt. As strangers 
 tliey went amongst that fastidious crew 
 and as strangers they came away, feeling 
 that if they hunted from Morbey Anstead 
 all their days, such they would remain. 
 For after ridincj behind these exclusives 
 the whole season, you were but too apt to 
 find your existence overlooked just as much 
 at the end of it as at the beginning. 
 
 Now there is no denying the fact that 
 folks don't Uke this sort of thing ; and 
 various were the remarks made ; often not 
 altogether of a laudatory description. It 
 may be vanity, but it is also human nature 
 to desire some recognition from your fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 " Upon my soul, we might just as well 
 be so much dirt," quoth one incensed 
 sportsman. 
 
 " Dirt ! say pitch," answered his com- 
 panion. " For they do condescend to make 
 
 1 *
 
 A CRACK COUxVrr. 
 
 tlie acquaintance of Mother Earth now and 
 
 again." 
 
 " Ha, lia ! very good, ver}- good," said a 
 third. " The worst of it is, though, after a 
 bit a fellow be<]fins to wonder what the 
 deuce is the matter with him, when he iroes 
 out hunting and not a soul will say a word, 
 or recognize his presence. He fancies 
 that the fault must lie with himself, 
 and that ain't bv any means a pleasant 
 feeling." 
 
 " True," put in a fourth. " But when 
 you liaye seen a little more of the M. A.'s, 
 then 3"ou turn round and enquire what the 
 deyil is the matter with them ? " 
 
 " They are so confounded exclusiye ! " 
 sighed the son of a s^rocer, who had taken 
 to liuntinix, thinkinnr he would <]:et eleyated 
 into County society. 
 
 " My dear fellow," said the first speaker, 
 contemptuously, " the whole thing lies in a 
 nut -shell, and I for one say that the Mutual
 
 A VEKY SELECT I1U^'T. 5 
 
 Adorationites are more to be pitied than 
 blamed. They have only one idea in their 
 heads, and that's hunting. They can think 
 of nothing else, talk of nothing else. Their 
 brains get brutalized, and their manners 
 suffer in consequence. My own belief is 
 that this rudeness and reticence proceeds 
 from a very simple cause. They are not 
 wise enough to know any better ; " and so 
 on, and on ad mjinitum^ for the malcontents 
 were verv numerous. 
 
 This remark happened to get round to 
 the ears of those for whom it was not 
 intended. Such remarks always do. They 
 travel with marvellous rapidity, and 
 generally land in the precise quarter where 
 they are calculated to do the largest 
 amount of mischief. 
 
 The indignation of the Mutual Adora- 
 tionites was quite comical. 
 
 Not know any better indeed ! They 
 flattered themselves they knew a very great
 
 6 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 deal better than to take up with every 
 Tom, Dick and Harr}^ who put on a red 
 coat and chose to appear outside a horse. 
 
 They liked to know who people were, 
 where they came from, how far their 
 ancestors could be traced, and in what 
 sort of society they moved, before jumping 
 down their throats, and even then there 
 was no hurry. It was always better to 
 take plenty of time to consider about these 
 thin<2^s, for fear of making' a mistake. It 
 would never answer for them — the Mutual 
 Adorationites — to incorporate a person 
 into their select bodv, and then fmd that 
 that person would not do ! There had 
 been such a case on record, and every 
 M. A. to a man was agreed it must never 
 happen again. And to do them justice, 
 this was their hrst and last error of 
 familiarity. Under the circumstances, it 
 will not perhaps be difficult to understand 
 how it came about that the Hunt was a
 
 A VEEY SELECT HUNT. 7 
 
 small one. It was still further reduced by 
 being divided and split up into sections. 
 
 First came the "riff-raff" — the kind of 
 folks whom the M. A.'s saw year after 
 year, and ignored entirely. They might 
 be very good fellows in their way, but, to 
 use their own expressive language, " they 
 did not tumble to them." 
 
 Fortunately for these gentlemen — who 
 constituted the larger portion of the field — 
 they were able to form a society of their 
 own, which enabled them to survive the 
 frigidity of their fellow Nimrods. 
 
 Then came the " Half-and-halfers " — 
 people whom the Mutual Adorationites, 
 for various reasons, did not wholly con- 
 demn, even while they they could not 
 altogether accept. 
 
 These were tolerated, passively and in a 
 luke-warm fashion, which proved more 
 ffallinc^ to some than direct avoidance. 
 
 On the recurrence of eacli huntinof
 
 8 A CRACK COUNTY 
 
 season, and after an absence probably of 
 several months, they would find themselves 
 greeted by a careless nod and a muttered 
 " How do." Or if the M. A. happened to 
 be in an unusually amiable and loquacious 
 mood, he might even go the length of 
 saying, " Fine day. Looks like a scenting 
 morning." 
 
 But this was quite an oratorical effort, 
 and generally meant, " There ! I've done 
 the civil to you, because you are a covert 
 owner, but for goodness sake don't expect 
 me to go talking to you any more to-day." 
 
 As a matter of fact, no real M. A. would 
 ever unbend so far as to be seen carrying 
 on a conversation with a " Ilalf-and- 
 halfer." They kept their conversations 
 and their ideas for themselves. They were 
 too precious, or perhaps too scarce to be 
 showered upon the world of " outsiders." 
 An3'how, they were not scattered like 
 pearls before swine.
 
 A VERY SELECT HUKT. 9 
 
 The hond-fide Mutual Adorationites did 
 not number more tlian a dozen. 
 
 When they went a-hunting they formed 
 a coterie apart. 
 
 They rode together, talked or rather 
 kept silence together, and jogged home 
 together. 
 
 All the rest of the field were made to 
 feel themselves without the pale. 
 
 But the M. A.'s, for all tlieir exclusive- 
 ness, were not jovial. There was none of 
 that friendly, harmless, good-natured 
 chatter going on amongst them which is 
 one of the characteristic features of most 
 covert sides, and often is carried to too 
 great an excess. 
 
 Occasionally one of their number would 
 jerk out an observation, and his companion 
 would grunt out a reply. But there was 
 no mirth, or jollity ; no fun and geniality. 
 
 They were stately, and solemn, and dull 
 to a degree. As for a joke — but there I
 
 10 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 tliey never condescended to anything half 
 so vulgar or so abominably plebeian. A 
 joke would have besn considered bad form. 
 
 The mere fact of ridinji about in each 
 other's company seemed to afford a kind of 
 sedate pleasure. Any interchange of 
 thought was quit^ superlluous. 
 
 Unfortunately, their very exclusiveness 
 rendered them few in numbers. 
 
 Death and absence had thinned their 
 ranks to such an extent that at the period 
 when our story commences, there were not 
 more than a dozen leg;itimate Mutual 
 Adorationites left. Still, thev sufficed to 
 maintain the character of the Hunt, and 
 effectually drove away any rash stranger, 
 who, tempted by the beauty of the country, 
 and the convenience of Morbey Anstead as 
 a sporting centre, took it into his head to 
 come out with the hounds. 
 
 First and foremost ranked the master, 
 Lord Littelbrane.
 
 A VERY SELECT HUNT. 11 
 
 He was a small, fair, colourless, insig- 
 nificant-looking man, about forty-five 
 years of age, with a drab complexion^ 
 and hair to match. He wore an eye- 
 glass, which stood him in good stead, 
 since the number of persons he contrived 
 not to see at one of his meets was truly 
 remarkable. He also was distinguished 
 by a stony stare very disconcerting to its 
 object. His eyes always seemed to look 
 just a little above his neighbour's head, 
 making that individual feel there must be 
 something wrong or queer about his hat. 
 
 Another famous M. A. was old General 
 Prosieboy, or The Squasher, as he was 
 lovingly called by his intimates. He was 
 a most useful personage, and had derived 
 his sobriquet from the fact that he could 
 annihilate an objectionable stranger better 
 than any other single M. A. in existence. 
 His method was very simple. He dis- 
 charged a volley of oaths at the offender,
 
 12 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 and as these were by no means choice, 
 generally forcible, and nearly always un- 
 provoked, nine times out of ten the 
 audacious enemy who had dared to address 
 an M. A. without waiting to be first 
 spoken to by him, retired in dismay, and 
 never repeated the hazardous experiment. 
 
 Once, and once only, it was said that 
 The Squasher met his match. The gentle- 
 man was fresh from California, and displayed 
 a fluency, a facility and an originality of 
 language, which fairly discomfited his 
 opponent, whose vocabulary was limited 
 in comparison. 
 
 Taking him all in all. Captain Straightem 
 might fairly be reckoned the flower of the 
 Mutual Adorationites. He was the best 
 dressed, the coolest, the most silent, and 
 least gregarious of the party. He had 
 never been known to laugh, and seldom 
 seen to smile. His brethen were loud in 
 his praise. Of the whole dozen good fellows
 
 A VERY SELECT HUNT. 13 
 
 who formed their ranks, he (always except- 
 ing themselves) was voted the best. As a 
 specimen of the right sort, he shone pre- 
 eminent. 
 
 He kept himself aloof, and never by any 
 chance fraternized with the vulgar herd. 
 As the owner of a large estate in the county, 
 he was a man of considerable position, 
 and looked up to accordingly, both by 
 those who had, and by those who had not, 
 the honour of his acquaintance. 
 
 And even his enemies respected him for 
 the brilliant way in which he rode to 
 hounds. They admitted that he had some 
 excuse for his extremely good opinion of 
 himself, but the other M. A.'s they declared 
 had none. 
 
 Still there was no doubt that the Mutual 
 Adorationites were on remarkably friendly 
 terms with No One. It must have been 
 the case, since nearly everybody else was 
 dubbed " a creature, a brute, or an out-
 
 14 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 sider." Nobody ^Yas good enough for 
 them — at least, nobody under a baron. 
 Yet the singular part of the whole business 
 was this. If any one had told them that 
 their Hunt was not popular, and that they 
 were the sole cause of its unpopularity, 
 they would have received the statement 
 with a burst of incredulous indignation. 
 The truth was, they had not the faculty of 
 seeing things from any point of view but 
 their own. Hence the limitedness of their 
 vision.
 
 CHAPTEE ir. 
 
 NECK OR NOTHING. 
 
 It would have cleeii difficult to conceive of 
 a more melancholy day for the opening 
 meet of the season than was Tuesday, the 
 first of November, 188-. 
 
 When Captain Straightem's servant called 
 his master about half-past eight o'clock, 
 that gentleman turned in bed like a lazy 
 porpoise rolling on the top of the water, 
 yawned and murmured in a voice muffled 
 by blankets : " What sort of a day is it, 
 Dickinson ? " 
 
 ''A tremendously thick fog, sir," came 
 the prompt reply, uttered in tones of un- 
 sympathetic cheerfulness. " You can't see 
 twenty j^ards a'ead of you."
 
 ]6 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 " The devil ! " exclaimed Captain 
 Straiglitem, wakening into sudden life, 
 and springing out of bed, so as to 
 ascertain for liimself the exact state of 
 the weather. 
 
 But to his disGfust, on lookinir out of the 
 window, he perceived at a glance that for 
 once Dickinson had not exa^^^i^erated 
 matters. 
 
 A dense fog lay over all the land, 
 enshrouding both hills and valle3's in its 
 weird and ghostly embrace. It rested like 
 a soft, grey sheet upon the fields, toning 
 down to a sombre tint the bricfht cfreen 
 f];Tass. As for the laurel hedires c^rowinc: 
 
 c GOD 
 
 on either side of the drive, tliev were 
 impregnated with moisture, and great wet 
 drops rested on their glossy leaves. 
 
 Everything was dark, everything was 
 dull, everything was damp. 
 
 He looked up at the sky, but could 
 detect no break or Meam of lioht.
 
 NECK OR NOTHINa. 17 
 
 The prospects of the chase did not appear 
 promising. Captain Straighten! stifled an 
 oath as he applied the razor to his clean- 
 shaven face. 
 
 " Confounded bad luck ! Still it may 
 clear by-and-bye," he muttered, half-an- 
 hour later on, when he sat down to his 
 solitary breakfast in the big oak dining- 
 room. And at any rate it won't do not to 
 go to the meet." 
 
 But as the fog showed no signs of giving, 
 he drew an armchair to the fire, toasted his 
 toes, and read the newspaper, waiting and 
 hoping that the weather would improve. 
 It was late before he started, and even then, 
 instead of galloping to covert as was his 
 wont, he allowed his smart little hog-maned 
 hack to proceed at a comparatively leisurely 
 pace. 
 
 Consequently by the time he reached the 
 place of meeting, the majority of the field 
 had already assembled ; but although it 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 18 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 was now long past the advertised hour, 
 Lord Littelbrane had not attempted to 
 raake a move. 
 
 As a matter of fact, it would not have 
 been easy to hunt, since objects at a distance 
 of onl}^ a few yards were almost undis- 
 tinguishable. To ride to hounds if they 
 ran fast — which tlie}^ so frequently do on 
 tliese mild damp days, when the heavy 
 state of the atmosphere seems to prevent 
 fscent from rising and dispersing — would 
 tax the powers of the keenest and most 
 darinoE" fox-hunter in existence. 
 
 "Deuced bore this d — d fo£T," growled 
 his lordship, as soon as Captain Straightem 
 joined the small and select circle which 
 invariably gathered round him at the meet, 
 as if to protect his noble person from any 
 possible onslaught of the vulgar herd. 
 "Deuced bore." 
 
 "Deuced," echoed Captain Straightem, 
 laconically but sympathetically.
 
 NECK OR NOTHING. 19 
 
 (( '' 
 
 Ton my soul, I liardly know wliat to 
 do. Whether to take the hounds home or 
 not. All these ' Arries,' " lookino^ round 
 contemptuously, " will feel terribly ag- 
 grieved if we don't show them some sort 
 of sport on the first day of the season." 
 
 "Never mind them," put in General 
 Prosieboy. '• It's ourselves we've got to 
 think of. Ourselves first, our horses second, 
 our hounds third." 
 
 " What do you say to it, Straightem ? " 
 asked Lord Littelbrane. For, as before 
 explained, Captain Straightem was a fea- 
 ture of the Huntj and his opinion went 
 for a great deal. 
 
 " Well, if I were you, I should wait a 
 bit longer before giving up. Folks don't 
 like to be disappointed on these kind of 
 occasions, and it's just on the cards that 
 the weather may clear." 
 
 And sure enough it did, though at no 
 time in a satisfactory manner.
 
 20 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Eut at twelve o'clock the sun struf^^f^led 
 SO gallantly with the fog, that for a few 
 minutes he actually forced it to disperse 
 before his pale radiance. 
 
 Loud were the conc^ratulations, and 
 universal the satisfaction, when Lord 
 Littelbrane, without losing a moment, 
 gave orders for the proceedings of the day 
 to commence, and hounds were at once 
 trotted off at a brisk pace, to draw a 
 covert close by. 
 
 Half-an-hour elapsed, and sadness and 
 despondency once more fell upon the spirits 
 of the field ; for the improvement in the 
 weather proved only temporary, and the 
 heavy mist seemed to roll down worse than 
 ever. Phoebus turned white and sicklv 
 like an ailinsf child, then sullenlv hid his 
 face. 
 
 " If this o'oes on we shall have to 2:ive 
 it up, whether we like it or not," said Lord 
 Littelbrane gloomily.
 
 NECK OR NOTHING-. 21 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his 
 mouth before a loud '' gane forrard 
 aw-a-ay " proclaimed that Eeynard had 
 left the snug undergrowth of the covert. 
 There was evidently a hot scent in the 
 open, for the hounds dashed out after 
 him, close at his brush, and almost directly 
 were lost to vision, engulphed, as it were, 
 by the enveloping fog. 
 
 They threw their tongues merrily, and 
 could be heard, though not seen. 
 
 And now began a curious chase ; for 
 every man had to ride by ear instead of 
 by eye, and he who was deaf stood but a 
 sorry chance. 
 
 Foxes are famed for their subtilty ; and 
 this one, as if on purpose to baffle his 
 pursuers, chose about as rough and awk- 
 ward a route as he could have selected in 
 the whole country. 
 
 Fences loomed dark and formidable, 
 their dimensions increased instead of
 
 22 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 diminished by the imperfect light. It was 
 simply impossible to tell what they were 
 like, until you were close upon them. 
 
 Horses snilTed the damp air through 
 their open nostrils, and discharged it 
 with disgust. They looked round sus- 
 piciously at this grey and unrecognisable 
 world, were nervous and timid, and dis- 
 trusted the commonest object. A log of 
 wood, a cow, a stone, filled them with 
 apprehension. And all this time, borne on 
 the vaporous atmosphere, rang out the 
 eager, murderous notes of hounds cele- 
 brated for their slaying qualities. 
 
 They were positively racing ahead. 
 
 But alack ! alack ! How to keep up 
 with them ? The task seemed well nio-h 
 impossible, and each man realized to his 
 bitter cost that there are some days in 
 every season when hunting is attended 
 with more pain than pleasure. Days when 
 hounds, fences, elements defy you simul-
 
 KECK OR NOTHING. 23 
 
 taneously. Five minutes sufficed to place 
 the field in disorder. Their ranks opened 
 and spread in every direction • and dire 
 was the confusion that resulted. 
 
 Only Burnett (the huntsman), Captain 
 Straightem, and a couple of hard -riding 
 farmers succeeded in getting well away. 
 Their nerve and promptitude served them 
 in good stead ; but they had to ride as 
 they had never ridden in their lives before. 
 It was a case of neck or nothing. 
 
 Friendly gates could not be taken 
 advantage of, as usual ; for to-day the 
 Pack would have vanished from view in 
 the time that they took to open. The 
 only chance of keeping with hounds 
 was to keep close to their heels and nego- 
 tiate every possible and impossible fence 
 that came in the way. Providence must 
 provide for the rest. 
 
 Crash, crash go the timbers of a 
 stilT double oxer, as the gallant quartette
 
 24 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 fly it, each man charging a diflerent 
 place. 
 
 One of the farmers is down — no, his 
 horse recovers himself. He staGfi^ers for a 
 pace or two, then gallops on as before, 
 fearful of losing his companions. 
 
 Suddenly is heard a shrill whistle. 
 
 It is the first intimation given to the 
 pursuers that they are close to a railway. 
 
 " By God ! " exclaims Burnett, in agi- 
 tated tones ; " the hounds will be cut to 
 pieces." For he knows b}^ the sound that 
 they are just ahead. 
 
 He calls them by name ; first in com- 
 manding, then in entreating, fnially in 
 frantic lan^uac^e. Never has his horn 
 iriven forth such loud and urcfent blasts. 
 
 But their blood is up, and they heed him 
 not. 
 
 In another second an express train 
 dashes into their midst, and two of the 
 best bitches in the whole Pack will never
 
 ' NECK OR ISOTHING. 25 
 
 go a-hunting again, or stretch their fleet 
 limbs over the broad pastures. Burnett is 
 in despair. 
 
 He wrings his hands like a woman, and 
 as he dismounts hastily and^bends over the 
 mans^led carcases of his dead darlinf^s — 
 those hounds that were his pride and his 
 delight — the tears gather in his eyes, whilst 
 his honest, weather-beaten face twitches 
 with sorrow. 
 
 " Darn this fog," he exclaims resentfully. 
 " It ain't fit to hunt in." 
 
 But the companions of poor Milkmaid 
 and Merrylass evidently hold a different 
 opinion. With deadly zest and joj^ous 
 music they fling forward after their fox, 
 every murderous instinct awakened and 
 desiring gratification. 
 
 A solitary horseman is with them now, 
 and follows their bold career. Burnett has 
 stayed with his hounds, the fog has 
 swallowed up the two farmers, who, until
 
 26 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 tliis point, Lave maintained their own right 
 
 well. 
 
 On the face of him who smiles so 
 
 rarely a solemn smile has settled. To 
 
 have bested the field is the one delic^ht 
 
 of his life. He can conceive of no hiizher 
 
 > 
 
 pleasure. 
 
 Swish ! And he tears through a great, 
 black ballfinch, and is almost drasf^^ed from 
 
 ' CO 
 
 his saddle. Slap! And the bough of an 
 overhanging tree catches him one on the 
 mouth. 
 
 His countenance bri^iitens still more, 
 
 O 7 
 
 though the blood is spurting from his lip. 
 His pulses quicken and his eye dilates, for 
 the dano-ers and the difficulties of this 
 
 o 
 
 particular chase lend it a special charm. 
 When he thinks it all over in his armchair 
 after a good dinner, he will feel excusably 
 triumphant and elated in proportion to the 
 obstacles overcome. 
 
 But what is this black thin^r loomins:
 
 NECK OR NOTHINa. 27 
 
 through the fog? Oh, for a ray of 
 sunshme ! 
 
 It might be a fence, it might be a 
 house, it might be anything, for all he 
 can tell. 
 
 The pulsations of his heart grow loud. 
 He can hear them beatino- ao-ainst his ribs. 
 But the hounds have already disappeared 
 behind the mysterious barrier, and where 
 they go he is determined to follow. 
 Whatever this man's faults may be, he is 
 brave and knows no fear. 
 
 Besides, he has beneath him one of the 
 most perfect and resolute hunters that ever 
 looked through a bridle. A hunter who 
 has carried him four seasons, and hardly 
 put a foot wrong. 
 
 Captain Straightem leans forward in the 
 saddle, pats his good horse's neck and 
 speaks an encouraging word to him. 
 Then he steadies him a trifle, and just 
 when he is about to take off gives him his
 
 28 A CRACK COU^TY. 
 
 head. The animal knows his business, and 
 is as courageous as a lion. 
 
 He springs from his hind legs, and 
 oh ! ! ! 
 
 Ten minutes afterwards, when Burnett, 
 Lord Littelbrane, and some half-dozen 
 others, riding in search of the hounds, 
 came to the fence in question they pru- 
 dently avoided it ; and went through a 
 bridle-gate which they had the good for- 
 tune to espy, congratulating themselves on 
 not being forced to jump such a regular 
 man-trap. 
 
 And yet the nerves of most of them were 
 inclined to be more shaken than if thev 
 had made the attempt. For an unexpected 
 sight met their vision. 
 
 Hard by, lying tliere on the ground all 
 by himself, some ten or twelve yards 
 distant from the fence, was Captain 
 Straighten!. 
 
 His horse had galloped away, and could
 
 NECK OR NOTHINa. 29 
 
 nowhere be seen, though a track of red 
 blood seemed to tell that he must have 
 been badly hurt in his fall. 
 
 For the thin dark line of treacherous 
 metal, which has been responsible for so 
 many accidents in the hunting-field, was 
 bent and twisted, and in parts tufts of fine 
 chestnut-coloured hair adhered to the rusty 
 wire. 
 
 Captain Straightem lay there quite still. 
 He never moved or spoke when his 
 companions crowded around him. 
 
 His face was turned upwards to the 
 sodden sky, one hand was clenched, and 
 held between its stifiened fingers a bunch 
 of grass torn from its roots, and in his wide 
 open eyes there rested a dull and vacant 
 look, which somehow struck terror in the 
 hearts of the bystanders. 
 
 It filled them with a nameless dread, a 
 horrible suspicion, which, staring blankly 
 into each other's sobered faces, they had,
 
 30 A CiiACK COVSTY. 
 
 in tlie first startlingness of the shock, not 
 courage to mention. 
 
 And the soft foi^ curled itself around the 
 dark twic^s of the hedi^e, and as a memento 
 of its passage left hanging from each 
 pointed thorn a trembling drop. Even in 
 that short space of time it had silvered the 
 fallen man's hair and covered with a 
 white, humid covering his red coat, his 
 snowy breeches, his top-boots, and all the 
 brave insignia of the chase, with which 
 only that morning he had sallied forth, full 
 of life and spirits. 
 
 • — ♦- 
 
 ^
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE MUTUAL ADORATIOXITES SUSTAIN AN 
 IRREPARABLE LOSS. 
 
 Lord Littelbrane was the first to speak. 
 
 " I fear this is a bad business," he said 
 huskily. " Does anyone know if there is 
 a doctor out hunting to-day ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do, my lord," answered Burnett, 
 touching his cap. " I saw Mr. Smith of 
 Cottlebury at the meet, riding that there 
 rat-tailed grey cob of his." 
 
 " Go and fetch him then this minute." 
 
 " Yes, my lord." 
 
 "And hark you, Burnett, don't spare 
 your horse. For once in 3^our life don't 
 mind if you bring him back lame or not ;
 
 32 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 only for God's sake find tliis Mr. Smith ; 
 and get him to come here immediately." 
 
 It was not often that his lordship spoke at 
 such leifgth or with so much energy and 
 decision. Burnett at once realized the 
 gravity of the situation, and galloped off 
 at full speed in the direction from which he 
 had recently arrived. 
 
 When he had gone, Lord Littelbrane 
 knelt down on the damp grass by the side 
 of his prostrate friend, and putting out his 
 hand, placed it under Captain Straightem's 
 red coat, and over his heart. '• I can't 
 feel it beat," he said tremulouslv, lookinix 
 up with troubled eyes, at those who stood 
 near. "It is horribly still, and there's a 
 look about his face which I don't half like. 
 Straighten!, old boy," giving him a slight 
 shake, " pull yourself together." 
 
 But no answer was forthcominfr. Still 
 the same unnatural quietude prevailed. 
 
 And now the truth, in all its solemnity
 
 AN IRREPARABLE LOSS. 33 
 
 aad horror, began to force itself upon Lord 
 Littelbrane's compreliension. Fiercely and 
 feverishly he endeavoured to thrust it from 
 him, but the thought grew and grew, and 
 turned his blood to ice. He had seen too 
 many bad accidents in the hunting field 
 not to know what this portended. Only last 
 year a young rough rider of his own had 
 been killed whilst followinor the hounds. 
 
 There was the same expression on the 
 lad's face as on Captain Straightem's. He 
 recalled it with a shudder. His nerves had 
 been shaken then, but now he felt as if 
 they would give way altogether. He 
 seemed stunned and dazed by the magni- 
 tude of the disaster. 
 
 For this man, lying here so pale and 
 still, was his friend. He had not so many 
 that he could afford to lose his best one 
 — the only one really after his heart. 
 Captain Straightem was endeared to him 
 through many ties of association, such as 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 34 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 when youths grow up, bind them closely 
 together. They had been born in the 
 same county, and in the same year. As 
 boys they had gone to the same school 
 and displayed an equal amount of stu- 
 pidity. As men, horses and hounds proved 
 an unfailini]^ bond of union between them. 
 They knew each other's peculiarities, and 
 their ideas of the position and importance 
 of a Mutual Adorationite were identical. 
 
 And besides all this, Lord Littelbrane 
 was not only proud of Captain Straightem, 
 but he entertained a species of veneration 
 cr him. There was not another man in 
 all the Hunt who could ride like the 
 gallant captain. If any serious misfortune 
 had now happened to him, who could he — 
 Lord Littelbrane — depend upon in future 
 to uphold the honour of their sacred body, 
 and show these rouiih-and-tumble fellows 
 the real scientific way to cross a country? 
 
 And if — if thino-s were as he feared, who
 
 AN IRREPARABLE LOSS. ' 35 
 
 would jog home with him at his own 
 pecuhar pace, after a hard day's hunting, 
 not taxing his conversational powers by an 
 irritating flow of small talk, but only at 
 lono' intervals oivincr vent to some choice 
 and almost monosyllabic remark. Then, 
 too, who would support him through 
 thick and thin, in the various difficulties 
 raised by covert-owners, farmers, poultry- 
 losers, subscribers, &c. 
 
 A lump came into Lord Littelbrane's 
 throat, which threatened to impede his 
 respiration. He turned his head hastily 
 away, so that none present should perceive 
 the moisture which suddenly dimmed his 
 eyes. 
 
 Meanwhile a couple of sheep hurdles 
 had been torn up from a turnip field close 
 by, and on these they laid Captain 
 Straightem's body, after first raising it 
 reverently from the ground. 
 
 Then the mournful little procession 
 
 9-* 
 O
 
 36 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 marched slowly and sadly through the 
 wet fields, until at length a road was 
 reached. Near this road stood a tidy 
 cottage, and in its parlour they deposited 
 their burden on the sofa. 
 
 Lord Littelbrane would not leave his 
 friend, even for a moment. He kept his 
 eyes rivetted on Captain Straightem's face, 
 in the hope of seeing some sign of life 
 return to it. But one of the party kept 
 watch outside the door, and paced rest- 
 lessly up and down the road, waiting and 
 lomrinsf for Doctor Smith's arrival. *• 
 
 So the minutes passed anxiously away. 
 They seemed interminable, and the gloom 
 of the atmosphere coincided with the gloom 
 of their spirits. 
 
 For although they tried by every re- 
 storative they could think of, to bring 
 colour to the fallen man's cheek, warmth 
 to his flesh, and light to his eye, all their 
 attempts proved vain.
 
 AN IRREPARABLE LOSS. 37 
 
 At last the sound of hoofs was heard, 
 and in another second, Burnett emerged 
 like a giant from the fog, followed by 
 Doctor Smith on his grey cob. Both 
 horses were panting, and gave evidence 
 of the speed at which they had travelled. 
 
 The doctor dismounted, and after a few 
 words of explanation from Lord Littelbrane, 
 who came out to greet him, flung the reins 
 to Burnett, and disappeared within the 
 cottage. Arrived there, one look was 
 enough to convince him that here were 
 no bones to set, no cuts to strap, or 
 wounds to dress. 
 
 Captain Straightem was past the aid of 
 man. Not all the skill and science in 
 the world could avail him now. He had 
 gone where such things were unable to 
 penetrate. 
 
 Doctor Smith shook his head, and his 
 countenance assumed an unusually grave 
 expression.
 
 38 A CRACK COU>'TY. 
 
 " Well ! " asked Lord Littelbrane in an 
 awestruck voice, for he knew what was 
 
 coming. 
 
 "Is there — is there any chance of his 
 getting over it ? " 
 
 " Not in this world," said the doctor 
 seriously. " Captain Straight em is dead, 
 and has been so for some time." 
 
 " Dead ! " exclaimed the other with 
 sharp anguish. " Oh ! no, not dead, surely 
 not dead. I will telegraph to London for 
 the best advice. Somebody must pull him 
 through," 
 
 " Neither I, nor anvbodv else, can do 
 him any good, poor fellow ! I only 
 wish that we could." 
 
 At this terrible confirmation of his worst 
 fears, Lord Littelbrane sank down on his 
 knees by Captain Straightem's side, and 
 buried his face in his hands. 
 
 Absolute silence prevailed throughout 
 the room. None felt inclined to break it.
 
 AN IREEPARAELE LOSS. 39 
 
 Only every now and again could be heard 
 a suppressed sob, wliich escaped from his 
 lordship almost involuntarily. 
 
 In spite of his vapidity, his reserve, and 
 curious conceit he had a heart. During 
 many years he had striven to conceal its 
 existence, but now it burst through that 
 veneer of impenetrabilit}^, on which, as a 
 Mutual Adorationite, he had long prided 
 himself. 
 
 Something seemed to give way within 
 him, and he bowed his head and wept like 
 a child. 
 
 The effort to maintain a dignified stoicism 
 was beyond his strength. 
 
 And those who had never liked him — 
 who had called him a fool, a prig, an 
 aristocrat — thought better of him at this 
 moment than they had ever done. The 
 resentment of years vanished. The shghts 
 and insults of seasons were forgotten. For 
 the first time almost in their lives, thev
 
 40 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 felt that he was human : a creature like 
 themselves, who loved, and mourned, and 
 suffered. " lie ain't such a bad chap after 
 all I '* thev murmured to one another. 
 " It's his way and very likely he don't 
 mean anything by it. We have been foolish 
 enough to take offence where probably 
 none was intended." 
 
 Meantime Dr. Smith was making a 
 minute examination in order to ascertain 
 the exact cause of death. As a hunting 
 man himself, he felt an unusual interest in 
 the case. He soon discovered what had 
 happened. 
 
 "Poor chap," he said, in his rough but 
 sympathetic way. (At any other time Lord 
 Littelbrane would have winced at hearing 
 his best friend called a " poor chap," but 
 he was too thoroughly upset and startled 
 out of his usual groove to take any notice 
 now.) ''He has broken his neck. It is 
 quite clear to my mind, that when he fell
 
 AN IREEPARABLE LOSS. 41 
 
 he landed on the point of his chin, which 
 caused the entire head to be violently- 
 jerked backwards, from which dislocation 
 of the cervical vertebrae ensued." Then 
 he looked commiseratingly at Lord Littel- 
 brane, and added : 
 
 " Don't take on so, my lord. This is a 
 dreadful business, but it should at least be 
 some consolation to you to know that death 
 was instantaneous, and that your friend 
 was spared all pain." 
 
 But Lord Littelbrane shook his sleek, 
 fair head, and refused to be comforted. 
 
 The shock was so great and so entirely 
 unexpected, that for once in his life it made 
 him forget himself and his dignity. Later 
 on it would be a cause of shame, when he 
 reflected that he had allowed these " out- 
 siders " to see that he possessed feelings 
 and emotions, and was not the iceberg he 
 strove to appear. 
 
 But the " outsiders " respected his grief
 
 42 A CKACK COUNTY. 
 
 and, as before stated, thought none the 
 worse of him in consequence. 
 
 While all this was izoini? on, a consider- 
 able crowd had collected round the 
 cottage. 
 
 Ill news travels apace, as the saying tells 
 us, and stra^^^lers bei]fan to pour in from 
 all sides. 
 
 "What, dead? Straiizhtemdead? You 
 don't mean it ! " 
 
 "Yes, I do thouo^h. Terrible tliino^. 
 Been dead an hour. Had a bad fall and 
 broke his neck." 
 
 " Dear me ! How dreadful ! How did 
 it happen ? " 
 
 " The old story. Wire. Farmer deserves 
 to be strung up." 
 
 The above were a specimen of the 
 remarks that went the round. Everybody 
 looked shocked and saddened. For even 
 those who had not known Captain 
 Straighten! personally, knew him by
 
 AN IRREPAEABLE LOSS. 43 
 
 siglit, and were sobered by the intelligence 
 of the disaster that had befallen him. 
 
 Men fear death ; and none so much as 
 the strong and healthy, whose minds refuse 
 to dwell on the possibility of annihilation, 
 and whose physical vitality laughs it to 
 scorn. But this sudden cutting off of one 
 of their number brought home, in a 
 forcible way, the dangers of hunting. 
 
 What had happened to Captain 
 Straightem mught have happened equally 
 to themselves. They — not he — might have 
 been lying dead inside the homely cottage. 
 
 Tiie mere idea was enou^li to shake their 
 nerves, and to send a cold shudder down 
 their spines. Sadl}^ and quietly they 
 gradually dispersed, whilst Burnett collected 
 his hounds — only twenty-one couple now, 
 instead of twenty-two — and moved slowly 
 off in the direction of the kennels. Ilis 
 orders were, that they should not come out 
 again for a fortnight. There was to
 
 44 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 be no Imnting in the Morbey Anstead 
 country during that time. 
 
 If Lord Littelbrane could do nothing else, 
 he was determined to pay respect to the 
 dead man's memory. 
 
 And so ended the first da}- of the season. 
 It had both begun and finished badly, and 
 the Mutual Adorationites had receiyed a 
 blow which quite prostrated them. For 
 their king was no more, and they knew of 
 none to fill his place. Where was the man 
 who could combine such brilliant horse- 
 manship with such hauteur, such exclusiye- 
 ness and reserve ? 
 
 -rr^jpr-
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 
 
 A WEEK after the sad event recorded in 
 the last chapter, Lord Littelbrane and 
 General Prosieboy sat down to a tete-a-tete 
 dinner at the house of the former. 
 
 His lordship was a bachelor, and not 
 much given to running after the fair sex. 
 
 As a matter of fact, few of the Mutual 
 Adorationites were married men. Mutual 
 adoration did not seem to work well in the 
 bosom of one's family. Not many wives 
 admired and looked up to their husbands 
 as they ought. They had a nasty knack 
 of bringing their lords and masters* weak 
 points to light. So said the M. A.'s. 
 Anyhow they did not approve of matrimony
 
 46 A ClUCK COUNTY. 
 
 as an institution. It broke up their ranks, 
 and introduced an altogether new and un- 
 Tvelcome element. Once a man married he 
 was never quite the same. He was no 
 longer allowed to follow his own judg- 
 ment, and his visiting list soon showed a 
 sad deterioration. 
 
 For thisj and many other reasons, it 
 resulted that if one of the genuine Mutual 
 Adorationites was rash enoui^h to turn 
 Benedict- he was generally treated with a 
 considerable amount of frigidity for a very 
 long time afterwards. 
 
 It took several years before the offence 
 was forgiven, and even if the bride were 
 altoc^ether charminix she never found her- 
 self wholly accepted. The M. A.'s, to one 
 man, felt that they owed her a grudge, for 
 weakening dear Adolphus's or dear Sidne3^'s 
 allegiance to their sacred bod3\ But as 
 regards Lord Littelbrane, he could not help 
 entertaining an uneasy conviction that
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 47 
 
 some day or otlier lie was bound to get 
 married. An lieir to tlie title was im- 
 perative. He had told himself this for the 
 last ten or twelve years, during which he 
 made sundry virtuous resolutions, and 
 repeatedly determined to sacrifice his 
 bachelor independence ; but so far these 
 ofood resolves had come to nothinsf. 
 
 He would be forty-six next birthday, 
 and Littelbrane Castle was still without a 
 mistress. Match-making mammas, possess- 
 ing ambitious daughters, had angled for 
 him in vain, and now, in despair, they had 
 given him up as a bad job, and reluctantly 
 turned their attention elsewhere. Both the 
 late Captain Straightem and his lordship 
 seemed equally proof against feminine 
 blandishments, and it was rumoured in the 
 county that they would never take a wife 
 to weaken, if not destroy their intimacy, 
 and prevent them from being constantly 
 together.
 
 is A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 But since his friend's sudden death, Lord 
 Littelbrane's whole mental condition had 
 undergone a complete alteration. Cir- 
 cumstances had brought about a curious 
 chamre in his ideas. When he looked 
 round at his great big barrack of a house, 
 with its endless rooms, swarms of servants, 
 and absence of an}- real comfort, it struck 
 him all at once that he was ver}^ lonely, 
 that many a labouring man, with a stout 
 red-cheeked wife and half a dozen babies, 
 was happier far than he. lie began to 
 wonder what it ^\ould feel like to be the 
 father of a family, to set his little children 
 on his knee, and play with their golden 
 curls. A strange yearning came over him 
 for sympathy and companionship — a sym- 
 pathy and companionship even closer than 
 that which he had just lost. 
 
 And thus wondering and speculating, 
 his thoughts reverted to a certain Lady 
 De Fochsey, who was both vounij and
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 49 
 
 pretty, and the widow of a deceased 
 baronet. She was a very smart, natty little 
 lady, who in her scarlet jacket and white 
 waistcoat, did credit to his Hunt. The 
 Mutual Adorationites all knew her, and on 
 account of her good looks, received her as 
 one of themselves. True he had never 
 paid her any attention, but that might 
 easily be rectified, and he fancied she 
 would accept his advances graciously. 
 
 Still, it was a desperate plunge, this 
 which he contemplated taking — so des- 
 perate that nothing but the loss of his 
 friend could have made him entertain the 
 idea in earnest. 
 
 His first notion was to invite Lady De 
 Fochsey to come and take a quiet little 
 dinner with him, explaining that he felt 
 very melancholy and required cheerful 
 societv. He was convinced she was 
 cheerful. Her laugh rang out so merrily 
 at the covert side that it had once or twice 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 A CKACK COUNTY. 
 
 actually aroused his curiosity as to the 
 cause of her mirth. Women ought to be 
 cheerful. lie liked them so, as long as 
 they were not " loud." He hoped she was 
 not " loud," and wished he knew her well 
 enough to make quite sure. 
 
 But when he came to consider the 
 slightness of his acquaintanceship with 
 Lad}" De Fochsey, he arrived at the con- 
 clusion that it was out of the question for 
 him to ask her to dinner in this sudden and 
 informal manner. So, as his solitude was 
 rapidly becoming unbearable, he invited old 
 General Prosieboy instead, v.dio although 
 he did not much appreciate the Castle 
 cuisine, liked being able to say : " Oh, ah ! 
 my dear fellow ! If you've nothing better 
 to do to-night, come and take pot-luck 
 with me. Damme though, I forgot, I'm 
 dining with Lord Littelbrane. See you 
 some other time I hope." But he always 
 took good care to leave that " other time "
 
 LOED LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 51 
 
 indefinite, and never alluded to it wlien 
 next lie met the " dear fellow." The dininof 
 room at Littelbrane Castle was very laro^e 
 and also very cold. No matter how big 
 the fire, it only warmed one portion of the 
 apartment. The old windows rattled, the 
 old doors creaked, and the wind seemed to 
 blow in at all sorts of possible and impos- 
 sible places. 
 
 Eound and round the dinner-table stalked 
 a pompous, grey-haired butler and a couple 
 of solemnly-stupid footmen. These wordiies 
 took special care to prevent their master 
 and his guest from indulging too freely in 
 the pleasures of the table. 
 
 The soup might have been a liquid 
 medicine, to be taken cautiously — one to 
 two table-spoons in a little water. The fish 
 was served out in such lilliputian quan- 
 tities, that it was only an aggravation to a 
 hungry, healthy man. The entree con- 
 sisted of a tiny oyster patty apiece, with
 
 62 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 one sinnrle oyster in its midst — that is for 
 the eaters. There were plenty of patties on 
 the disli, but they were smuggled away 
 with a sleight-of-hand that would have 
 reflected credit upon Messrs. Maskelyne 
 and Cooke. This was the more provoking 
 as General Prosieboy was fond of oysters. 
 
 Mutton ? Yes ! there was mutton 
 certainly, but what was the good of that 
 when 3'ou were helped to a slice that 
 might have been carved from the breast 
 of a lark. 
 
 And yet, night after night. Lord Littel- 
 brane sat down to this mockerv of a meal 
 because he considered it to be " the thing ! '* 
 IJe would rather go without a morsel and 
 be waited upon by three pompous men- 
 servants, than he would dispense with their 
 services, and help himself as he liked, and 
 ho IV he liked. 
 
 So much for fashion. 
 
 But General Prosieboy was not exactly a
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 53 
 
 fashionable man, and moreover lie pos- 
 sessed a remarkably good appetite. 
 
 At home he invariably insisted on his 
 parlour-maid putting each separate dish 
 on the table. Then he did c^et something 
 to eat. But really ! at Littelbrane Castle, 
 in spite of all the fine furniture, old armour, 
 and retinue of servants, when he got up 
 from the table he felt very nearly if not 
 quite as hungry as when he sat down 
 to it. 
 
 However, he was on his company 
 manners, and stood too much in awe of 
 Lord Littelbrane's exalted rank — his father 
 had made all his money in Prosieboy's 
 antibilious pills — to air his sentiments 
 aloud. Had he done so they would pro- 
 bably have been translated by oaths. On 
 the present occasion, with a mighty effort 
 of self-control, he succeeded in maintaining 
 a decorous silence, mentally determining to 
 have up that excellent piece of cold beef
 
 H A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 lie had had for luncheon, directly he 
 reached home. 
 
 He fumed inwardly all the time the three 
 great, silent sentinels were in the room, 
 but when they removed their restraining 
 presence, carrying everything eatable away 
 with them that they could, the atmosphere 
 seemed suddenly to have grown less oppres- 
 sive. Then the two gentlemen drew up 
 their chairs close to the lire-side, and 
 placed the port and claret on the mantel- 
 piece where it was easily get-at-able. 
 
 After consumim? four or five c^lasses, 
 the strings of their tongues gradually 
 became unloosened. The Littelbrane wine 
 was good, and General Prosieboy revenged 
 himself upon it, for not having dined. 
 
 " Ahem ! " he said communicativelv, and 
 with the air of a man who considers he is 
 imparting a wonderful piece of intelligence. 
 " I forgot to tell you before, but I've seen 
 him.'*
 
 LOED LITTELBEAKE FEELS LO^^ELY. 55 
 
 His lordship at that moment was think- 
 ing quite sentimentally — thanks to the 
 Chateau Lafitte — of Lady De Fochsey's 
 ros}^, smiling face, her trim figure and 
 sparkling blue eyes. 
 
 " Eh ! what ! Seen him ? Seen who ? " 
 he asked with rather a guilty start. 
 
 " Why, the new man. The man who 
 comes in for all poor old Straightem's 
 property. The nephew, in short.'' 
 
 " Have you, by Jove ! And what's he 
 like ? Can we have anything to do with 
 him ? " And as he made the inquiry. Lord 
 Littelbrane's countenance assumed an ex- 
 pression which seemed to say that he, for 
 one, was convinced the Mutual Adoration- 
 ites could not be hand in glove with a total 
 stranger, hailing from the colonies. 
 
 "Impossible," said General Prosieboy 
 emphatically. 
 
 His lordship gave a sigh of relief. 
 
 "Why?" he asked, subsiding into his
 
 66 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 usual languid state, whicli forcibly sug- 
 gested a torpid liver. 
 
 " Because, as far as lean judge, lie's the 
 wrong sort altogether." 
 
 '' Ah ! I expected so, and should have 
 been very much astonished had he proved 
 anything else." 
 
 " It seems he has lived all his life in 
 Australia, and has never been to England 
 before. In fact, one could almost tell as 
 much from looking at him. Colonist is 
 stamped upon him from the crown of his 
 hat to the sole of his boots." 
 
 " Poor devil ! ' exclaimed Lord Littel- 
 brane commiseratingly. 
 
 " Did Captain Straightem never mention 
 this bushman of a relative ? " asked the 
 General, with an elderly man's curiosity. 
 " I don't seem to have heard of him." 
 
 "Oh! yes, lots of times. But never 
 without a shudder. Poor Harry was so 
 refined," sighing heavily. "He told me,
 
 LOED LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 57 
 
 only the morning of his death, that the 
 fellow had arrived unexpectedly and pro- 
 posed running down to Straightem Court 
 to pay him a visit. 'Awful bore,' said 
 Harry, ' and the worst of it is, I don't 
 know how the deuce to put him off. He's 
 got a sort of right to come, since, unless I 
 marry and have children, he's the next heir 
 to the property.' " 
 
 " He has acquired a most unfortunate 
 right to it now," said General Prosieboy 
 lugubriously. 
 
 " Yes, worse luck. Times are indeed 
 sadly changed. I wonder though if I 
 ought to be civil to the man on Harry's 
 account ? " And Lord Littelbrane looked 
 uneasily at his companion. 
 
 " I really don't see any necessity for it. 
 It does your Lordship's heart immense 
 credit even to have suggested such a thing ; 
 but, I assure you, you can't possibly 
 associate with this aborigine. If you had
 
 68 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 onl}^ seen the creature as I saw him to-day, 
 at the railway station, dressed in a brown 
 velveteen suit, with a flarinir red tie. and a 
 pair of checked trousers that reminded one 
 of a chess-board, you would have recognised, 
 in spite of your natural kindness, that it is 
 quite out of the question for a man in 
 your position and of your rank to notice 
 so very peculiar a person. Why, damme ! 
 he wears clothes that are enoui:^h in 
 themselves to make an3'body who has 
 the remotest notion of what is cus- 
 tomary in civilized societ}^ cut him on the 
 spot." 
 
 " And there is such a lot in clothes," 
 murmured his lordship. " I think it was 
 Kingsley who said, you can transform any 
 gentleman into a blackguard — at least as 
 far as outward appearances go — by simply 
 taking away his white collar and substitu- 
 ting a coloured scarf in its stead. By-the- 
 bye, what is the duffer's name ? It's not
 
 LOKD LITTELBEA:KE feels lonely. 59 
 
 Straiglitem, I know, tliank God for 
 that ? " 
 
 " No, it's Jarrett — Eobert P. Jarrett — I 
 saw it painted on his portmanteau." 
 
 " I wonder if Mr. Eobert P. Jarrett 
 means to favour us with his presence out 
 hunting." 
 
 " I expect he is sure to," returned the 
 GeneraL " These Austrahans mostly take 
 kindly to sport." 
 
 " Confound the fellow ! We shall have 
 him jumping on my hounds, and making 
 that an excuse to scrape acquaintance with 
 me. Eeally Prosiebo}^ if he turns out 
 objectionable, as I fully expect from your 
 description of him, you must come to the 
 
 rescue." 
 
 " With all my heart, my Lord," replied 
 his companion, dilating his nostrils, and 
 sniffing the air like an old war-horse who 
 smells powder and is eager to begin 
 the fray. " You leave Mr. Eobert P.
 
 €0 A CE^CK COUNTY. 
 
 Jarrett to me. Ill soon settle Lim, never 
 fear." 
 
 " That's all right. Eemember ProsieLoy, 
 I count upon you should any emergency 
 
 arise." 
 
 And with these words, Lord Littelbrane 
 dismissed the subject. 
 
 A long silence succeeded, during which 
 host and guest lit a couple of cigars and 
 smoked away steadily. The occupation 
 evidently strained every faculty ; for con- 
 versation lan^^uished, both feelino- that after 
 their recent outburst of eloquence they 
 needed time to recruit their forces. 
 
 General Prosieboy was the first to make 
 a remark. It was scarcely as original as 
 might have been expected from the long 
 period of incubation required to give it 
 birth. 
 
 " Feels cold to-night," he said. " I 
 think we shall have a frost." 
 
 " Oh ! Ah ! very likely. Time of year
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 61 
 
 we may expect them," answered his lord- 
 ship. 
 
 Another silence of five minutes followed 
 this brilliant sally. 
 
 Then the General a2:ain crave vent to an 
 oracular utterance : 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder if we had snow before 
 loniT." 
 
 " No, nor I." .... 
 
 Whereupon they both puffed away at 
 their cii?ars harder than ever. 
 
 Their ideas appeared totally exhausted. 
 Even the weather failed to furnish a further 
 supply. 
 
 But by-and-bye a large lump of coal fell 
 down on the grate with a clatter. Lord 
 Littelbrane seized the tongs, and stooped 
 to pick it up. This broke the spell. 
 
 " Awful bore when coals tumble about,'* 
 he said. 
 
 " Awful," replied General Prosieboy. 
 
 Puff, puff, puff. Apparently neither of
 
 62 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 them could think of anything more to say. 
 The General could only talk when he was 
 drunk or in a rac^e. Take away his oaths 
 and his liquor and he was nowhere. As 
 for Lord Littelbrane he never could under- 
 stand why when people dine together they 
 should be supposed to keep up a perpetual 
 chatter. What was the pleasure of it in 
 comparison with the fatigue ? 
 
 Eleven o'clock strikes, and General 
 Prosiebov rises from his seat, and throws 
 away the end of his cigar. 
 
 " Think I must be going home," he says. 
 
 "Must you?" rejoins Lord Littelbrane 
 passively. lie never presses his guests 
 to stay after half-past ten. Li the hunt- 
 ing season he invariably keeps early 
 hours. 
 
 " Yes, think so. Good night, my lord. 
 Hope you will cheer up before long." 
 
 General Prosieboy's hand is on the 
 handle of tlie door as he speaks. In
 
 • LOED LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 63 
 
 another moment lie would have vanished 
 into the corridor. 
 
 Ilis lordship plucked up all his courage, 
 and made a desperate effort. 
 
 " By the way," he said, whilst a flush 
 rose to his sallow face, " what's your 
 opinion of that little Lady De Fochsey ? 
 She's the right sort, ain't she ? " 
 
 The question took General Prosieboy 
 completely by surprise, but he was far too 
 diplomatic a gentleman to express the 
 astonishment that he felt. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " he answered in an off-hand 
 way, seeing he was evidently desired to 
 express approval. " Quite the right sort ; 
 a very nice little woman indeed. I know 
 nothing whatever against her, except that 
 she's rather too thick with some of the 
 outsiders." 
 
 " Ah ! she's young. Shell soon learn to 
 distinguish, especially with the advantage 
 of a little judicious guidance. But I'm
 
 64 A CRACK COUKTY. 
 
 keeping you standing ; good night, Prosie- 
 boy, good night." 
 
 And so saying, Lord Littelbrane shook 
 hands with his guest, and saw him out at 
 the hall door. But this last remark of his 
 host's had given the General much food for 
 reflection. 
 
 No sooner was he fairly seated within the 
 sheltering walls of his one-horse fly, than 
 he drew a long breath of dismay. 
 
 " Thunder and lis^htninfr ! " he exclaimed 
 dejectedly. " So that's the little game, is 
 it ? Why ! bless my heart alive, I do 
 believe he's thinking of getting married. 
 Was there ever such a set-out? There 
 won't be one of us left at this rate. First 
 a death, then a marriage ! Upon my soul, 
 I hardly know which is the worst of the 
 two. As for the Ilunt, it's going to 
 the dogs altogether ; and if Lord Littel- 
 brane don't look out, he'll be having his 
 country over-run with strangers, and a
 
 LORD LITTELBRANE FEELS LONELY. 65 
 
 lot of confounded radicals who not 
 only believe in but act on the principle 
 of one man being as good as another. 
 Such rot indeed ! " he wound up indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 His heart was so heavy within him at the 
 mere thought of Lord Littelbrane's con- 
 templating matrimony, that when he got 
 home he found the cold beef insufficient to 
 comfort the sinkings of his inner man. He 
 was forced to take a very stiff tumbler of 
 brandy and water in addition. 
 
 "Just to quiet the system, Mary, my 
 dear ; just to quiet the system," he ex- 
 plained to his pretty parlour-maid (he 
 never would have an ugly servant in his 
 house), chucking her familiarly under the 
 chin. 
 
 " Hexactly, sir ; I understands." 
 
 " The fact of the matter is, Mary, I've 
 received a shock, and it has knocked me 
 all of a heap." 
 
 VOL. L 5
 
 66 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 "Take another glass of brandy, sir. 
 It's uncommon soothing to the nerves." 
 
 "Yes, Mar}^, I will. I think your 
 suggestion is a wise one." 
 
 He found it so wise that it was close 
 upon one o'clock before he could at length 
 be induced to toddle off to his bed. Mary 
 had to help him to get there ; but once safely 
 between the sheets, thanks to the joint 
 effect of Lord Littelbrane's port and of his 
 own three-star Henessey, he slept the sleep 
 of the just. 
 
 lie had effectually soothed his nerves by 
 addling his wits. 
 
 ■^^-"^
 
 CHAPTEE y. 
 
 A STKANGER IN THE LAXJ). 
 
 EoBERT Jarrett's motlier and tlie late 
 Captain Straiglitem had been only brother 
 and sister. 
 
 As children, the boy and girl were 
 devoted to each other, but when they grew 
 up, fate, that capricious goddess, cast their 
 lots in ver}^ different places. 
 
 The young man went into the Guards, 
 looked brave and handsome in his uniform, 
 spent a considerable amount of money, idled 
 away his days, denied himself no luxury, 
 and, as times go, was a credit to his doting 
 father. 
 
 As for Fanny, well, poor Fanny made 
 
 what was considered a most terrible 
 
 5*
 
 68 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 "mesalliance." She was destined to 
 marry into the aristocracy and she married 
 an ai^Ticulturist. 
 
 When this unfortunate event took place 
 she was very young ; only a month over 
 seventeen, and had but just returned from 
 a fashionable boarding school in Brighton, 
 where she had been finishing her education 
 previous to making her entry into society. 
 
 But, alas ! like a silly romantic child, 
 she fell desperately in love with a young 
 man, aged » twenty-one, who had been sent 
 down to StiHshire to learn farminij ; 
 presumably because he had not brains 
 enough to learn anything else, or to pass 
 the necessary examinations for the army. 
 At any rate, he took to turnips and oil- 
 cake. 
 
 He was a gentleman by birth, and that 
 was about all that could be said for him — 
 at least, so Squire Straighten! declared, 
 when his dauuhter came with tears in her
 
 A STRANGER IN THE LAND. 69 
 
 pretty, blue eyes, and begged him to give 
 his consent to her engagement with Mr. 
 Charles Jarrett. 
 
 The squire turned purple in the face, 
 almost had a fit of apoplexy, and refused 
 flatly. The idea ! Wh}^, the girl must be 
 mad. 
 
 But Fanny was too much smitten by her 
 lover's pleasant manners, and professions 
 of affection, to listen to reason. She even 
 thouo^ht there was somethino; fine in making? 
 a sacrifice for the sake of him she loved. 
 Anyhow, she was young, ignorant and 
 headstrong. 
 
 Her grandmother had left her five thou- 
 sand pounds. Over this sum she possessed 
 absolute control. Master Charles' income 
 consisted of two hundred a year. He was 
 an orphan, and had neither expectations nor 
 interest ; but, to do him justice, he was 
 genuinely attached to Fanny. To make a 
 long story short, one fine day the impru-
 
 70 A CI^ACK COUNTY. 
 
 dent and impatient young couple got 
 married secretly, trusting that when they 
 were actually man and wife the squire 
 would relent and be induced to make them 
 some further provision than that derived 
 from their own very limited means. 
 
 But, like man}^ others, they reckoned 
 without their host. 
 
 Old Squire Straightem flew into a 
 towering passion when he found that little, 
 innocent, blue- eyed Fanny had defied him 
 by taking the law into her own hands. 
 Eefusing to listen to her prayers for 
 forgiveness, he swore a mighty oath that 
 , she should never set foot ia5>ide his house 
 a^ain. And he was as cfood as his word. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jarrett were there- 
 fore obliged to fall back upon their own 
 resources. These, as wo know, were not 
 large. Fanny was inexperienced ; she had 
 been extravagantly brought up, and had 
 no notion of housekeeping.
 
 A STEANGER IN THE LAND. 71 
 
 For six montlis tliey tried living in 
 England ; but they found that, do what 
 they would, they were running into debt. 
 No one could have had better intentions than 
 the poor little bride, but she had every- 
 thing to learn in her new life, and also a 
 good deal to unlearn. It came hardly to 
 her at first, and nobody need blame her if 
 she made a few blunders. Most of us 
 similarly situated would have done the 
 same. 
 
 But they were a brave young couple, 
 and when things seemed likely to go from 
 bad to worse, they made up their minds to 
 shake themselves free of the old shackles 
 and start afresh in Australia. This they 
 did ; and with Fanny's five thousand 
 pounds Charles Jarrett bought a sheep 
 farm and stocked it with sheep. 
 
 Sometimes they had good years, some- 
 times they had bad ; but they managed to 
 keep their heads above water, and on the
 
 72 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 wliole prospered fairly well. At all events 
 Fanny never regretted the step she had 
 taken, even although it had completely 
 estranged her from her father and brother. 
 
 Charles Jarrett was far too easy-going 
 and indolent a man to grow rich. A large 
 family — of whom Eobert was the eldest — 
 and as the years went b}^ very indifTerent 
 health, effectually prevented him from 
 makinfT a fortune. 
 
 Thus, when he died at the comparatively 
 early age of forty-eight, he was unable to 
 do more than leave his wife and children 
 above want. 
 
 But Robert, or Bob as he was familiarly 
 called, had alread}^ shown himself to be a 
 far more active, eneri]^etic and stirring 
 individual than his father. He had not 
 inherited Charles Jarrett's constitutional 
 laziness of disposition, which had effec- 
 tually prevented him from getting on in 
 the world.
 
 A STI? ANGER IN THE LAND. 7» 
 
 The farm was left to Eobert. The youn^Tf 
 man soon discovered that to a great extent 
 it had been grievously mismanaged, and 
 that its powers of production had never 
 really been tested. His first care was to 
 put everything in thorough order. 
 
 Next he tried hard to improve the breed 
 of sheep and introduced several new strains 
 of blood. But he was not satisfied with 
 those that were available ; and after a 
 couple of years scraped enough money 
 together to provide for the family in his 
 absence, and to take him to England. 
 
 Naturally, he was eager to visit the 
 country where his mother had been 
 born and bred. lie was aware that, 
 as matters stood at present, Captain 
 Straightem's property would revert to 
 him. But he never counted on this 
 contingency. 
 
 It seemed altoc^ether too remote, for 
 Captain Straightem was by no means an
 
 74 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 old man, and miglit at any time take it 
 into his head to 2fet married. 
 
 Bob, in his own mind, was so convinced 
 that sooner or later his uncle would espouse 
 a better-half, that it very rarely occurred 
 to him to think of himself as only one step 
 removed from a magnificent estate and 
 close upon fifteen thousand a year. 
 
 No such thought actuated him when he 
 set foot upon English ground and deemed 
 it his duty to write and inform Captain 
 Straightem of his arrival, in case that 
 gentleman miglit express a wi.^h to make 
 his (Bob's) acquaintance. 
 
 To this letter he had received no reply ; 
 in lieu thereof came a lawyer's communica- 
 tion, formally worded, acquainting him of 
 the fact, that owinir to his uncle's sudden 
 decease in the hunting held, he was now 
 the possessor of Straightem Court, with all 
 its adjoining lands. I^ob's amazement may 
 be more easily conceived than described.
 
 A STRANGER IN THE LAND. 75 
 
 111 fact his astonisliment was too great to 
 allow him to derive any immediate satisfac- 
 
 4/ 
 
 tion from the extraordinary alteration that 
 had taken place in his prospects. 
 
 It did just flash through his mind that 
 henceforth, if he chose, he might apply his 
 energies to improving the breed of English 
 rather than of Australian sheep, but that 
 was all. 
 
 It never even struck him that his 
 presence might be necessary at Straightem 
 Court, until he received a second letter 
 from the family solicitor, requesting his 
 immediate attendance. Then by slow 
 degjrees he beo'an to realize that he, who 
 was accustomed to rise with the sun, to 
 saddle and dress his own horse, to be 
 content with the coarse fare .and to put 
 his hand to every job that came in the 
 way, was now transformed into a fine 
 gentleman, who had nothing to do but take 
 his pleasure and amuse himself from
 
 76 A CEACIv COL'NTY. 
 
 morning till night. This dawned upon Bob 
 as such a stupendous idea that it almost 
 took away his breath. It is not an easy 
 thing when all your thoughts have been 
 attuned to a particular groove, suddenly to 
 divert them into another and totally un- 
 familiar one. It takes a little time before 
 the adaptation becomes complete. 
 
 Bob was a young man who possessed an 
 immense amount of vitality and of that 
 nervous force which delights in work and 
 in conquering it. He liked the active, even 
 if somewhat rough, life which lie had 
 hitherto led. 
 
 He enjoyed the responsibility of being 
 the head of the family and of feeling that 
 his brothers and sisters were dependent on 
 him. It sent a thrill of pleasurable pride 
 throu<]fh his frame to see their brio^ht and 
 happy faces as they came clustering round 
 him after a hard day's work. Somehow or 
 other the simple homely way in which they
 
 A STUANGER IN THE LAND. 77 
 
 lived seemed to bind every member of the 
 family, from the eldest to the youngest, in 
 ties of close affection. 
 
 True they were not rich, each one had to 
 take his or her share in the daily toil, but 
 for all that they had been very, very 
 happy. 
 
 Would they be as happy if they lived in 
 a grand house, had any amount of money 
 to spend and lots of servants to wait upon 
 them, instead of waiting upon themselves 
 as they had hitherto been accustomed to 
 do? 
 
 Bob hoped so ; but he was not quite 
 sure. 
 
 This sudden change in their lives seemed 
 to him a bit of an experiment ; it might or 
 it might not turn out well. 
 
 He was Australian born and bred, and 
 loved the sunny land of his birth ; he 
 possessed a sturdy independence and manly 
 blunt ness, which did very well for the
 
 78 A CRACK CO 'J NT Y. 
 
 colonies, but he was sensitive enough to feel 
 tliat, in his new position, his manners would 
 probably require a considerable amount of 
 toning down. In Australia people did not 
 wrap their speech up in silver paper, they 
 said what tlie}^ meant and did not sneer at 
 conversation which owed its birth to home 
 mterests, and often to home interests alone. 
 
 But Bob had not been fuur and twenty 
 hours in the old country before he realized 
 that a subtle difference existed between it 
 and the new ; the former was more polished 
 if not so fresh ; more fastidious and critical, 
 though infmitely less light-hearted. 
 
 Even as regarded his dress, he soon came 
 to have considerable misgivings. 
 
 His brown velveteen suit, red tie, and 
 checked trousers, no longer afTorded him 
 quite the same satisfaction as on board ship. 
 
 Somehow they seemed out of place in 
 the London streets, where he noticed people 
 all dressed quietly and mostly in black or
 
 A STKA^'GER IN THE LAND. 79 
 
 dark colours. Once or twice his appear- 
 ance evidently excited surprise, and lie 
 felt extremely uncomfortable, not knowing 
 exactly what there was about it that was 
 wrong. 
 
 In fact, if General Prosiebov had but 
 known with how much inward trepidation 
 "The Duffer, The Brute, The Creature" 
 was about to enter into his kingdom, even 
 he might have felt mollihed and not been 
 quite so hostilely inclined towards Captain 
 Straightem's unknown nephew and suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 But the die was cast ; the fiat had gone 
 forth. 
 
 Eobert P. Jarrett was doomed before- 
 hand. 
 
 The Mutual Adorationites had decided 
 that he should neither be known nor yet 
 visited. 
 
 Other people might take up with him if 
 they chose ; but they would not demean
 
 €0 A CRACK COUiNTY. 
 
 themselves by having anything whatever 
 to do with an individual who wore the 
 wrong kind of clothes, and had no pre- 
 tensions of " the ric^ht sort." 
 
 Mr. Jarrett should be made to feel in 
 everj^ possible way that his presence in the 
 county was undesired and superfluous ; 
 that he was unpardonably occupying a 
 house which, but for him, might have been 
 inhabited by a good fellow ; and that 
 under no circumstances could he ever be 
 accepted as fit company for the Mutual 
 Adorationites. If he insisted on cominix 
 out hunting, of course they could not 
 actually prevent him. lie had a right to 
 gallop over the fields and tear after the 
 hounds if he chose. 
 
 But nobody need speak to him, except to 
 swear roundly at him if he got in the way, 
 or committed the smallest error of inex- 
 perience. 
 
 They could all stare at him blankly, and
 
 A STRANGER IN THE LAND. 81 
 
 refuse to recognize his presence as a fellow- 
 creature. They could feign deafness if he 
 hazarded a remark ; blindness if he came 
 across their path. 
 
 Thev could show him the cold shoulder 
 to his face, and abuse him to their heart's 
 content behind his back. 
 
 And this the Mutual Adorationites, ac- 
 cording to their usual manners and customs, 
 were determined to do. 
 
 He should be snubbed, and snubbed 
 effectively. 
 
 For had not General Prosieboy given 
 out that their poor old friend Straightem's 
 successor was a " duffer " and an " out- 
 sider," with whom they ought not to asso- 
 ciate ? And would it not be showing dis- 
 respect to the dead man's memory, if they 
 received with open arms a nephew of 
 whom, in his lifetime, he was evidently 
 ashamed ? 
 
 Yes. There was such a thing as esprit 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 de corps. If the Mutual Adorationltes did 
 not wish to be swamped altogether by the 
 odious radical wave of the century, they 
 were bound to uphold their ancient habits 
 and customs. 
 
 Moreover, they were perfectly satisfied 
 with themselves as they were, and wanted 
 no innovations introduced amongst their 
 ranks. 
 
 ro 6^ 
 
 .^mmntsu
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 
 OPPRESSED BY SO MUCII GRANDEUR. 
 
 Although our friend Bob liad lieard and 
 read a good deal of tlie luxurious and, to a 
 great extent, indolent way in which Eng- 
 lish gentlemen live when at all well ofT, he 
 had no really definite notions on the subject 
 until he arrived at Straightem Court. His 
 mother had often talked to her children of 
 the magnitude of her old home ; but then 
 seeing a thing with one's own eyes is very 
 different from having an impression made 
 upon your mind through the medium of 
 somebody else's optics. 
 
 The number and size of the rooms at 
 Straightem Court fairly amazed Bob. 
 
 " What are they all for ? What are they
 
 84 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 all for?" he kept on asking of the family 
 solicitor who showed him over the pre- 
 mises, and had promised to remain for a 
 day or two. 
 
 "For use, I suppose," replied that worthy, 
 with a strong accent of reproof. 
 
 " For use ! Do you mean to tell me that 
 one parlour is not enough for anybody ? 
 Why, on my farm in Australia, we never 
 dreamt of wanting a dining, drawing, 
 breakfast, bilhard and reading room, as 
 3'ou seem to have here. And what's more, 
 it ain't comfort — leastways, to my mind," 
 concluded Bob, decidedlv. 
 
 His companion looked at him with a 
 smile half supercilious, half contemptuous. 
 
 " You'll soon fiQt to alter some of vour 
 opinions, Mr. Jarrett. It is quite evident 
 that you have lived very much out of the 
 world." 
 
 " Damn his impudence," muttered Bob, 
 sotto voce, "He talks as if there were do
 
 OPPEESSED BY SO MUCH GRANDEUR. 85 
 
 Other country but his own particular, little 
 sea-girt island. It's wonderful how ignorant 
 and how cheeky these Englishmen are. 
 There's no getting them to see themselves 
 in their true light." 
 
 But he kept his reflections to himself, 
 and turning sharply to his uncle's solicitor, 
 said : 
 
 " And pray, wdiat about the servants ? 
 Am I supposed to keep all this troop of 
 idle people, eating me out of house and 
 home ? Because it strikes me that would 
 come uncommon rough on a fellow, 
 especially w^hen, like myself, he is a 
 stranger at the game." 
 
 " You will be able to arrange all these 
 matters to your own satisfaction when once 
 you have regularly entered into possession," 
 said the other stiffly, beginning to think 
 what a terrible, sharp, fresh, outspoken 
 aborigine this was. 
 
 " Come ! that's a mercy at any rate,"
 
 86 A CEACK COU^'TY. 
 
 said Bob, with a sigh of relief ; for the 
 mere contemplation of maintaining so large 
 a staff of domestics was oppressive, and 
 filled him with dismay. Yet, distrustful of 
 his own opinions on subjects of which 
 hitherto he had had no experience, he 
 added seriously : " Listen, Tomlinson. You 
 are a sensible man, and can give me a 
 straightforward answer to a straightforward 
 question. I only want to get at the reason 
 of things, and no doubt you can tell me 
 what is the use of all these idle folks ? It 
 seems to me there are too many of them by 
 half, and they only make work for one 
 another.'' 
 
 Mr. Tomlinson scratched his head, and 
 looked somewhat perplexed. The question 
 put thus, was not altogether easy to answer. 
 
 "It is customar}^ Mr. Jarrett, in all large 
 houses, to keep up a good establishment — 
 that is to say, where there are sufficient 
 
 means."
 
 OPPEESSED BY SO MUCH GEANDEUE. 87 
 
 Bob's face assumed a thoughtful expres- 
 sion. 
 
 " I don't see," he said, " how one person, 
 living quite alone like my late uncle, could 
 possibly need so many people to minister 
 to his wants. It seems an anomaly for a 
 single man to employ such a number of 
 servants just to attend to his mere personal 
 requirements. Now, if / were an English 
 gentleman, I should hate to feel myself 
 dependent upon my cook, butler, or foot- 
 man, as the case might be. It's turning 
 a fellow into a regular slave, and a slave of 
 a very poor, contemptible order." 
 
 " I suppose you learnt those ideas out in 
 Australia," said Mr. Tomlinson rather un- 
 comfortabl}^, and on that account trying to 
 infuse an extra amount of satire into his 
 voice. 
 
 " Perhaps I did, and perhaps I didn't," 
 answered Bob, a bit nettled by the solici- 
 tor's overbearing manner. " Anyhow,
 
 88 A CEACK COUKTY. 
 
 whether I learnt them in Australia or else- 
 where, they are ideas of which I do not 
 feel at all ashamed, and on the contrary- 
 should despise myself if I did not entertain. 
 There is a padded person in this house, 
 with sham white hair, and sham round 
 calves, who comes to opon the door. Can 
 you tell me what that cumbrous mass of 
 human flesh, with its painful deficiency of 
 human brains, is good for? — since I am 
 convinced he has never done a stroke of 
 real, honest work in his life. I ask this 
 because the individual in question has 
 aroused my curiosity." 
 
 "I presume you mean Charles, the foot- 
 man. A very hue, well-made man, over 
 six feet in height, and an ornament to any 
 gentleman's establishment," returned Mr. 
 Tomlinson. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" laughed Bob. "Just as a 
 fatted ox is an ornament to the gentleman's 
 farm. I beiiin to see matters in a clearer
 
 OPPRESSED BY SO MUCK GRANDEUR. 89 
 
 liglit. Show evidently comes before use 
 over here." 
 
 " Charles answers the bells, waits at 
 table, and, as far as I know, has always 
 proved himself to be an honest and respect- 
 able servant," said Tomlinson, testily. 
 
 " My dear sir, honesty and respectability 
 are very excellent things in their way. 
 Nobody has a greater respect for them 
 than myself. But when you find these 
 admirable qualities united to intense slow- 
 ness of perception and pomposity of move- 
 ment, to crass stupidity and the sloth of an 
 overfed pig, then you can't help thinking 
 that they are not all-sufficient. Now, last 
 night I wanted a glass of whisky and 
 water. At home I could have gone to the 
 cupboard, fetched the whisky bottle, boiled 
 myself a drop of water in the kettle, and 
 got what I wished for without further 
 trouble and little or no delay. Here, there 
 are a butler and a footman, therefore I rang
 
 90 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 the cell. They either did not, or would 
 not hear it. In about five minutes' time, 
 after pulling frantically at the bell-rope 
 till at last it gave way, my friend Charles 
 appears. I explain my requirements. He 
 disappears. I wait another ten minutes. 
 Presumably the water is being boiled. 
 Unluckily there is no longer any bell to 
 pull. I wait impatiently, and try to 
 smother the oaths that insist on rising 
 to my lips. Presently I hear a leviathan 
 tread — the tread of an elephant — sounding 
 down the passage. With the deliberation 
 with which all his movements are attended, 
 Charles brings into the room a hot water 
 jug. There is neither glass, whisky, nor 
 sugar. I. ask him where they are. He 
 answers that he has forgotten, but will 
 brii)2[ them in a minute. A minute, indeed ! 
 Exactly a quarter of an hour has elapsed 
 since I first made known my modest de- 
 mand. By this time, all my desire for a
 
 OPPRESSED BY SO MUCH GRANDEUR. 91 
 
 glass of comforting liquor has vanished. 
 I resolve to do without it. No doubt I am 
 all the better for my abstention, but it's no 
 use telling me that this sort of thing is 
 real comfort. It's downright bondage and 
 nothing more, and comes from your old 
 habits, your old institutions and your old 
 country." 
 
 Mr. Tomlinson drew liimself up to his 
 full height, mentally classifying Bob as an 
 unbearable Yahoo. 
 
 " I am sorrj our manners and customs 
 should appear so inferior to your Aus- 
 tralian ones," he said, with an ill-disguised 
 sneer. 
 
 " It's not that," Bob explained eagerly. 
 " Only you don't seem to value Time in 
 the way we do. Now, to waste a quarter 
 of an hour over a drop of whisky would 
 appear to us almost a sin ; and not only 
 a sin, but downright ridiculous into the 
 bargain. But then, we are used to waiting
 
 «2 A CRACK COUKTY 
 
 upon ourselves, which no boubt makes all 
 the difference." 
 
 " We English are a conservative race, I'll 
 admit," returned Mr. Tomlinson, in a more 
 conciliatory tone ; " but it is rather hard 
 to find one's own children turn round and 
 abuse one." 
 
 " My dear sir," exclaimed Bob, pray 
 don't imagine for a single moment that 
 I have not the greatest respect and ad- 
 miration for your race. Why ! what have 
 I come over here for, except to pick up 
 a few wrinkles, and profit by some of your 
 insular notions But you must forgive me 
 if, in my blundering way, I try to dis- 
 tinguish where you are ahead of us, and 
 where we are ahead of you. We look up 
 to old England with intense veneration, but 
 then, even the best of mothers gets ancient, 
 and leaves her offspring with an advantage 
 of youth on their side. There are too 
 many of you over here. Your population
 
 0PPEES3ED BY SO MUCH GRANDEUE. 93 
 
 iacreases, and you are bound in by tlie sea. 
 Soon tlie question will be : ' What shall we 
 eat ? How shall we exist ? ' In Australia 
 and America we have still plenty of room, 
 thank God! but on the other hand our 
 manners are not polished, and we want a 
 great deal of the refinement for which you 
 are conspicuous." 
 
 " I am pleased to hear you make the 
 admission, Mr. Jarrett." 
 
 " I feel disposed to make any number 
 of admissions, Mr. Tomlinson, only I must 
 not take up your time by inflicting too 
 many of my crude, colonial opinions upon 
 you. And now, what do you say to 
 accompanyiuGf me to the stables? A real 
 English hunter is what I have lon^^ed all 
 my life to behold." 
 
 The solicitor assented to this proposition, 
 whereupon Bob and his mentor gave up 
 arguing and proceeded direct to the 
 stables.
 
 (( 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 NOT HALF A BAD SORT OF GENT 
 
 5> 
 
 As is generally the case in most good 
 hunting counties, great care and attention 
 had been bestowed upon the equine depart- 
 ment. The stables at Strai^htem Court were 
 approached by a massive stone archway, 
 rendered picturesque by the luxuriant ivy 
 which cluno' to its walls. 
 
 This archway led into a square, neatly- 
 tiled court-yard, round three sides of which 
 ran the hunters' loose boxes, the remaining 
 one being devoted to wash-houses, harness 
 rooms, SiC. The late Captain Straighlem 
 had prided himself on the number and the 
 superior quality of his horses. Xo man in 
 the whole county owned better animals or 
 ones of a higher class.
 
 "NOT HALF A BAD SORT OF GENT." 95 
 
 Out of sixteen, nearly all were thorough- 
 bred, or next door to it. 
 
 This fact, perhaps, was not remarkable 
 in itself, but it was rendered so by every 
 single quadruped being up to fourteen 
 stone. And those who know anything of 
 horseflesh will at once recognize how much 
 time, trouble and money must have been 
 expended by the deceased gentleman to 
 achieve such a result. 
 
 It is far from being easily obtained. 
 As a rule, the class of thoroughbreds 
 seen in the hunting field is represented by 
 weedy screws, long and narrow, pos- 
 sessing handy heels and suspicious looking 
 fore-legs. Nhie times out of ten they are 
 worthless cast-ofTs from the turf, who have 
 been condemned at the very first trial, and 
 never been allowed the chance of disgracing 
 themselves in public. 
 
 When our friend Bob walked into the 
 Straightem Court stables, and glanced down
 
 96 A Cr.ACK COUNTY. 
 
 tlie loni,^ line of roomy, loose boxes, with 
 their small-headed, satin-coated inmates, 
 for the first time since his arrival in 
 England he expressed himself in terms of 
 unqualified admiration. 
 
 "Yes," he said, turning vivaciously to 
 his companion, " you beat us here, I'll 
 admit. Our horses are all very good in 
 their way, but they are not a patch on 
 these. They are a rough, ragged, common- 
 looking lot in comparison. Not but what 
 they can go — aye, and jump also. Ill back 
 some of our kauG^aroos at home to cet to 
 the bottom of the best horse ever foaled. 
 It's wonderful how the beggars slip over 
 the ground. Occasionally, too, we come 
 across timber that is real awkward. But 
 
 for all this, I know quite well how very 
 superior your English hunting is." 
 
 " I'm delighted you should think any- 
 
 tiling superior over here, Mr. Jarrett," said 
 
 Tonilinson, still maintaininuf a tone of
 
 "NOT HALF A BAD SORT OF GENT." 97 
 
 asperity. " You've been very hard to 
 satisfy so far." 
 
 " Well, anyway, I'm satisfied now ; I 
 don't mind confessing how impatient I am 
 to try my hand at some hona-Jide fox- 
 hunting, such as Australia cannot furnish." 
 
 " You have a stud of horses here, Mr. 
 Jarrett, which I take it will enable you to 
 see as much of the sport as you like. I'm 
 no great connoisseur in such matters my- 
 self, but I always heard that no one was 
 so famous for the quality of his cattle as my 
 late respected client." 
 
 " Ah ! poor chap ! " exclaimed Bob, his 
 face growing suddenly grave, " I was quite 
 forgetting about him. Of course, never 
 havin^f known him makes a lot of differ- 
 ence ; nevertheless it seems horrid of me 
 to be looking forward to riding his gees, 
 when he is hardly cold in his grave." 
 
 '* It does strike one as rather soon, cer- 
 tainly," acquiesced Mr. TomlinsoiJ. 
 
 VOL. I 7
 
 98 A CKACK COUNTY. 
 
 Bob Stuck his hands into his trousers 
 pockets, and for a second appeared to be 
 revolving some mental problem. It did 
 not take him long to come to a solution, 
 for in another minute he said, speaking 
 decisively, as if to convince himself as well 
 as his hearer : 
 
 " It's impossible to pretend to have any 
 personal feeling for a man who is an 
 absolute stranger to you. Of course, I am 
 sorry my uncle's death should have oc- 
 curred ; but if I were to go about in sack- 
 cloth and ashes, then I should feel like a 
 most tremendous humbug. Besides," and 
 his face lit up with youthful enthusiasm, 
 " I can't help wanting to hunt when I get 
 a chance. By-the-bye, do 3'ou happen to 
 know when the hounds meet ai^ain ? " 
 
 " I really have no idea," returned Mr. 
 Tomlinson disapprovingly ; for Bob's 
 manners were not at all in accordance with 
 his notions of what those of a iicntleman
 
 "NOT HALF A liAD SORl' OF GENT." 99 
 
 occupying his client's present important 
 position should be. " You know Matthews, 
 no doubt ? " and he turned interrogatively 
 towards Captain Straightem's stud-groom, 
 who up till now had stood silently by, 
 lookinof at his new" master with a very 
 dubious expression of countenance. 
 
 If Matthews was anything, Matthews was 
 conservative, and like Mr. Tomlinson, he 
 perceived a good deal in Bob's aspect and 
 attire not exactly in accordance with his 
 ideas of the appearance a real " out-and- 
 out swell " should present. 
 
 " Yes, sir," he said in answer to the 
 law^yer's inquiry. " 'Ounds don't go out 
 'afore Monday week, and," sotto-voce, " they 
 w^ould not go then, if Lord Littelbrane had 
 his way."- 
 
 " Not before Monday week ! " exclaimed 
 Bob, with a shade of disappointment. 
 " Then I shall be obliged to curb my 
 impatience. However," addressing Matthews 
 
 7*
 
 100 A CRACK COUKTY. 
 
 in his quick, bright way, " I've already 
 made up my mind which horse I shall ride." 
 
 " Indeed, sir ! " said the stud-groom, not 
 without a touch of irony. " May I make 
 so bold as to inquire your choice ? " 
 
 " Yes ; " said Bob, " this is the animal 
 that takes my fancy. I don't set up for an 
 authorit}^ but according to my views, he's 
 the pick of the whole basket," and so say- 
 ing, he opened the door of the nearest box, 
 in which was standing a most admirably 
 shaped and perfectly proportioned chestnut. 
 
 " You're not far out, sir," said the old 
 groom, with a pleased smile beginning to 
 steal over his face. " I see as 'ow you 
 knows a good hoss when you sees him." 
 
 " I ought to," replied Bob ; " for one 
 way and another, I have had plenty to do 
 with horses. What do vou call this hand- 
 some fellow ? " 
 
 " Kingfisher, sir.'* 
 
 " And not half a bad name, thouiih he is
 
 "NOT HALF A BAD SORT OF OENT." 101 
 
 sucli a thorough gentleman, that he ought 
 to have been ' The King ' without the 
 ' fisher.' But, I say, " suddenly bending 
 down and inspecting a couple of half-healed 
 wales on the good horse's forearms, " what's 
 the matter here ? He looks as if he had 
 been in the wars." 
 
 Matthews' naturally impassive face began 
 to twitch. 
 
 " This, sir," he said, in a curiously 
 subded voice, " is the animal on which 
 Captain Straightem met his death. King- 
 fisher was his favourite mount — and rightly 
 so— for a finer hunter never looked through 
 a bridle. But," with a sigh, " the hoss has got 
 a bad name now, and I'm afraid it will stick 
 to him all his life, though he don't deserve 
 it — not one bit. It was no fault of his that 
 the master came to grief ; and, I tell you, 
 sir, I went to look at the fence. I could 
 see the hoof-marks where Kingfisher took 
 ofi* ; but that there infernal wire was quite
 
 102 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 three yards away from the hedge. No 
 animal living could have cleared it. But — 
 there — there, I can't bear to think of it all." 
 
 And so saying, Matthews, totally over- 
 come by the recent sad occurrence, and by 
 the stio-ma which he imagined would attach 
 to his favourite horse henceforth and for 
 ever, turned sharply away so as to hide two 
 great tears that were coursing slowly down 
 his weatherbeaten cheeks. 
 
 Up till now Bob had taken somewhat of 
 a dislike to the man. He fancied he was 
 airified and stuck-up ; but as he listened to 
 the husky tones in which Matthews con- 
 cluded the above speecli, his heart grew 
 suddenly soft, and yielding to a kindly 
 impulse, he laid his hand on the old groom's 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Look here, my man," he said, glancing 
 down at him with a pair of bright, yet 
 compassionate eyes, " you don't cotton over 
 and above much to me, I know. One
 
 "NOT HALF A BAD SOKT OF GENT." 103 
 
 always feels these sort of things without 
 being told 'em. From all I hear, you have 
 had a very good master, and therefore I, 
 for one, say you are quite right not to 
 welcome a new one in too much of a 
 hurry." 
 
 " It ain't that exactly, sir," interrupted 
 Matthews, with evident embarrassment ; 
 " leastways, not altogether." 
 
 " Well, never mind ; we need not go into 
 all the ins and outs just now, but I can 
 make a pretty shrewd guess as to your 
 feelings, and, by jingo, were I in your place 
 I should feel exactly the same. Moreover, 
 Matthews, I can see quite plainly that 
 you're not easy in your mind about King- 
 fisher. You think after what has happened, 
 I shall probably want to sell him." 
 
 " Oh, sir, but you've just guessed my 
 thoughts entirely," and once more Matthews' 
 eyes began to blink suspiciously, whilst he 
 cleared his throat with evident effort.
 
 104 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 " Now look here,'' said Bob, " I daresay 
 I'm very far from being the sort of master 
 you have been accustomed to ; but that 
 ain't my fault any more than it is yours. I 
 may be rough ; nevertheless, when I say a 
 thing I mean it ; and I give you my word 
 of honour that the chestnut shall never pass 
 into strani^e hands. I know without bein^ 
 told what a good horse he is. I will keep 
 him and ride him fairly, just as if all this 
 bad business had never happened ; and 
 when he gets too old for work, and past 
 picking up a comfortable livelihood in the 
 green iields, then we'll just send a bullet 
 through the poor fellow's head and put him 
 out of his misery. There, does that satisfy 
 3^ou ? " and Bob looked the stud-groom 
 straight in the face. 
 
 All of a sudden, Matthews seized Bob's 
 hand and began jerking it up and down, 
 exactly as if he were at work on a pump- 
 handle.
 
 "NOT HALF A BAD SORT OF GENT." 105 
 
 This process lasted several seconds. At 
 last lie found 'Voice enough to say 
 huskily : 
 
 . " God bless you, sir, for those kind 
 words. They show that you have got a 
 good heart. And it would just about have 
 broken me down to have seen the best 
 horse in this, or any county, put up for 
 sale at public auction. I bred him myself ; 
 handled and broke him in. Nobody except 
 me and my poor master ever knew how good 
 he was. Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! the thought 
 of losing Kingfisher as well as Captain 
 Straightem has pretty nigh drove me mad," 
 and he wiped his brow with a red cotton 
 handkerchief. 
 
 " My poor old chap, don't give the 
 matter another thought. I have promised 
 not to sell the horse, and nothing shall 
 induce me to do so." 
 
 And so saying, Bob, who was himself 
 beginning to feel a little affected by
 
 106 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Mattliews' emotion, left the stables and 
 strolled leisurely towards the house. 
 
 Matthews looked after him long and 
 critically. 
 
 "Yes," he muttered to himself, " he may 
 be a bit rough — in fact, he is rough. 
 There ain't one man in a thousand as has 
 got the captain's beautiful, soft, lazy 
 manner ; but for all that, he's not half a 
 bad sort of gent. Anyway, I intend to do 
 my dooty by him and be all on the square. 
 I'll let no one rob him if I can help it." 
 
 And later on, if Matthews ever heard a 
 disparaging w^ord about Bob uttered in his 
 presence, he always looked severely at the 
 offender, and said : 
 
 " You're talking of what you know no- 
 thing about. Now I can tell you for a fact 
 that Mr. Jarrett is a truer gentleman than 
 many of those as thinks a lot more of 
 themselves and is not half so iiood in 
 reality,"
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LONGING FOR A RIDE. 
 
 A WEEK passed slowly away, and never in 
 his life had Eobert P. Jarrett, Esq., felt 
 more thoroughly bored and altogether 
 miserable. His new prosperity sat uneasily 
 upon him. He missed the simple laborious 
 open air life to which he had been accus- 
 tomed. If he attempted to do the most 
 ordinary thing for himself, he found that 
 there was nearly always, within arm's 
 reach, some individual whose duty it was 
 to perform that thing, and who felt 
 aggrieved and astonished by " The Master ■ ' 
 encroaching upon his or her rights and 
 privileges. 
 
 To be thus waited upon, might soon
 
 108 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 have grown bearable to one unaccustomed 
 to luxury, had the particular thing only 
 been well done. But this it never was. 
 
 To take one small instance amongst 
 many. 
 
 Bob had always been in the habit of 
 sharpening his own razors. It is possible 
 that they were not invariably perfectly 
 stropped, but at any rate, he sharpened 
 them to his entire satisfaction. But now 
 he was no longer allowed to continue this 
 practice. The gentleman of the padded 
 calvet; took charge of his shaving apparatus, 
 and professed to honour it with his personal 
 supervision. The consequence was that 
 never before had Bob's chin suffered to 
 such an extent. Hardly a morning passed 
 without its receiving some injury of a pain- 
 ful and unsightly nature. 
 
 His clothes were another source of 
 annoyance. 
 
 They were constantly being folded up
 
 LONGING FOE A RIDE. 109 
 
 and put away in drawers and cupboards 
 whose very existence he knew nothing of. 
 To find any particular garment was like 
 looking for a needle in a barrel of bran. 
 It was enough for him to place an entirely 
 clean pocket handkerchief in his pocket 
 over night to discover it, after a long 
 search, deposited next morning in the 
 dirty linen basket, along with socks worn 
 for three or four hours only, collars that 
 had not a stain or a disfiguring mark upon 
 them, and shirts that looked as if they had 
 just returned from the washerwoman's 
 hands. 
 
 Now these things, although trifles, were 
 trifles utterly opposed to Bob's habits, 
 principles and education. He had a horror 
 of waste, but more especially of that waste 
 so seldom considered, i.e., the needless 
 expenditure of human labour and of human 
 vitality. His theory was, that people 
 should use their heads and save their hands.
 
 110 A CIIACK COUNTY. 
 
 " TJdilk wliat you have got to do, and 
 then do it ! " he often said to the men 
 employed on his farm ; " but never put 
 out your strength needlessly. For instance, 
 I drop a handkerchief and a knife out of 
 my pocket ; if I am wise, I pick them both 
 up together. The one action of stooping 
 answers a double purpose ; but a foolish 
 man will pick up first the one and then the 
 other. Instead of bending down once, he 
 bends twice, and by so doing expends 
 ph^^sical force, which with a very little 
 consideration might have been economized." 
 
 Bob's theories were, no doubt, all very 
 well in their way, but he had not been 
 four and twentv hours in the mother 
 country before discovering that, when 
 tested, they were practically useless. It 
 seemed to him tliat mam' of the lower 
 classes in Eu«dand had never been taunht to 
 think. At least, that was the only way he 
 could account for their stupidity. As
 
 LONGING FOR A EIDE. lU 
 
 for the domestic servants at Straic^litem 
 Court, they almost maddened him. One 
 and all lived in a little narrow groove, 
 filling their stomachs and starving their 
 intellects, and performing their daily tasks 
 without an atom of forethought or in- 
 telligence. 
 
 Perhaps it was because Bob had been 
 brought up as a very poor man that habits 
 of waste, luxury and expenditure did not 
 come easily to him when he suddenly found 
 himself placed in the position of a rich 
 one. 
 
 To have plenty of money at one's com- 
 mand, no doubt was pleasant ; but there 
 were certain accompaniments of fortune 
 which appeared almost intolerable to the 
 simply reared Australian. 
 
 And amongst the most intolerable, 
 strange to say, he classed his daily meals. 
 
 To eat breakfast, luncheon and dinner 
 in stately solitude, and be solemnly stared
 
 112 A CRACK COU^'TY. 
 
 at and execrably waited upon by a couple ot 
 stolid men-servants, was almost more than he 
 could stand. Over and over again he felt 
 as if he must jump up from the table — they 
 w^ere so horribly slow — and just take what 
 he wanted, independent of the fuss and the 
 dignity and the needless procrastination. 
 It set every nerve on tension, and filled 
 him with a mad desire to kick butler and 
 footman out of the room, and dispense 
 with their services alt02fether. 
 
 At such times he felt extremely home- 
 sick and his thoughts would wander off to 
 the pleasant, sociable meals of Australia. 
 In his mind's eye he could see his mother 
 sittincf at one end of the table, smilinfj 
 tenderlv at him. lie could see himsell 
 occupying the seat opposite, and all the 
 bright, eager, healthy, happy faces of his 
 young brothers and sisters, as they crowded 
 round the board and looked up to him as 
 the head of the family.
 
 LOXJING FOU A EIDE. 113 
 
 Once more he heard the merry hum of 
 
 ft/ 
 
 voices and peals of light-hearted laughter, 
 mixing with the clatter of knives and forks, 
 whilst from the oldest to the youngest each 
 tried to suppl}^ not only his own, but also 
 his neighbour's wants. There was little 
 enough of ceremony about those dinners. 
 And yet how jolly they were ! How 
 entirely free from silly, unmeaning con- 
 ventionality. Bob told himself he would 
 rather eat a mutton chop over there than 
 partake of Lord ^Mayor's fare at Straightem 
 Court ; in fact, he became so nervous, that 
 he positively dreaded the long, dull stately 
 banquets, eaten amidst outward surround- 
 ings of magnificence, but with an inward 
 sense of intense discomfort and annoyance. 
 True, he had only to express a wish for 
 the men-servants to retire ; but that was 
 precisely what he dared not do. He knew 
 he was raw, he knew he was ignorant, and 
 in his innermost heart Durned a consuming 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 ambition in all things to imitate the habits 
 and customs of a real county gentleman. 
 
 " If I am to live here in future," he 
 mused, with the common sense characteristic 
 of him, " I must get to be one of them. 
 I can tell by my own feelings that I've 
 got the deuce of a lot to learn. It's queer 
 that so many of these English habits should 
 go so much against the grain with me, but 
 I'll force myself to fall in with them all the 
 
 same." 
 
 It was a brave resolution, rendered the 
 more so because he had to exercise an 
 immense amount of will-power to put it 
 into force, besides - a good deal of self- 
 control, and what — to him — was personal 
 inconvenience. 
 
 Liberty had been the one predominating 
 feature of his Colonial life. The bonds 
 imposed by civilization had hitherto sat 
 lightly upon him. lie was a child of the 
 soil, of the sun, of the sky, of tlie wind ;
 
 LONGING FOR A RIDE. 115 
 
 and as such, free and unconventional. To 
 speak the truth and do your duty appeared 
 to him better than all the most subtle and 
 specious of religions. 
 
 And now he felt cramped and limited, 
 like a man confined in a strait jacket. He 
 panted for air, for space. England seemed 
 to him crreat and vet small : orreat in her 
 commercial activity, her factories, her vast 
 and busy emporiums ; but small, in that 
 she could not see how her love of comfort, 
 of luxury and pleasure, was like the 
 Eomans of old, slowly but surely bringing 
 about her downfall. The nation wanted 
 rousing ; like an over-fed chikl, it was 
 surfeited and sick. 
 
 Then in the midst of these tragically 
 severe reflections, Bob's mind would dart 
 off again to home. He thought of his 
 favourite sister ; dear, bright-e3'ed, good- 
 natured Belle, who was always ready with 
 sympathy on every occasion, and to whom 
 
 8*
 
 116 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 he invariably confided all liis sorrows and 
 disappointments. Little Tottie too, with 
 her rosy face, and comical upturned nose. 
 How he wished they were with him. He 
 began to long for somebody to talk to. 
 For Mr. Tomlinson had left, and Bob, who 
 was not accustomed to his own society, 
 quickly wearied of it and pined for com- 
 panionship. 
 
 He missed the occupations of his every- 
 day life on the farm ; and unacquainted as 
 3'et with his new duties, he wandered 
 aimlessly about from house to stable, from 
 stable to garden, and from garden to 
 outbuildings. 
 
 He would have given a ten pound note 
 to set to work and dress a horse, dig a 
 potato bed, or round up the cattle in the 
 bii: <]^reen undulatino- fields. 
 
 liut allhoui]:li Englishmen miizht con- 
 descend to such occupations in other 
 countries, they could not do so in their
 
 LO^'GIXCr FOR A EIDE. 117 
 
 own. Caste and custom equally for- 
 bade it. 
 
 At last this lonsf, lonof week came to an 
 end, and tlie meets of the Morbey Anstead 
 hounds were once more advertised in the 
 papers. 
 
 Bob's spirits rose as he conned them 
 over ; the depression which had crept upon 
 him vanished. Once more he was all 
 eagerness and expectation. 
 
 His intense wish to go out with a first- 
 rate pack of English fox-hounds, and judge 
 for himself what the national sport was 
 really like, at length appeared in a fair 
 way of being fulfilled. He looked forward 
 to this novel experience with all the ardour 
 of a child. 
 
 November the fifteenth broke very dif- 
 ferently from November the first. 
 
 The one day had been made up of gloom 
 and fog, the other was as brilliant as a blue 
 sky and clear sunshine could render it.
 
 118 A CRACK COUxNTY. 
 
 A soft air blew, the fields were vividly 
 green, the hedgerows only just beginning 
 to change colour, and but for a few flut- 
 tering leaves falling with lii>ht irrefjular 
 motion to the ground, one might have 
 fancied that summer was still lingering, 
 loth to take a seven months' farewell of 
 Mother Earth. 
 
 On this eventful moriiinir Bob woke 
 early, and spent an unusual time over his 
 toilet. To tell the truth, until now he had 
 never given it a thought. 
 
 But alas ! there were manv difTicullies in 
 the way such as he had not dreamt of. 
 
 These, perhaps, may be better under- 
 stood when it is hinted that he possessed 
 neither breeches nor boots. The necessity 
 of such articles had not occurred to him, 
 and even now he did not consider them to 
 be of very paramount importance. 
 
 But his state of mental serenity soon 
 received a severe shock. 
 
 i
 
 LONGING FOR A KIDE. 119 
 
 Charles the solemn, Charles the lethargic, 
 Charles the padded, was he who dealt the 
 blow. He informed his master that 
 without such articles of costume he could 
 not possibly be seen in the hunting field. 
 
 " Why, bless my heart alive," expostu- 
 lated Bob, with considerable animation, 
 " when we 2fokan2:aroo chasino^ in Australia 
 we none of us care twopence what we 
 wear. We think only of the sport, not of 
 our clothes." 
 
 "Yes, sir, I suppose so, sir," answered 
 Charles, not yielding an inch from the 
 position he had assumed. 
 
 " Why ! have you ever been out there ? " 
 asked Bob quickly. 
 
 " No, sir ; never, sir." 
 
 " Then what made you say, ' I suppose 
 so.' " 
 
 " Because," said Charles with a huge 
 accession of dignity, " I himagined that 
 them sort of way was good enough for
 
 120 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 the Colonies, but they don't do over here. 
 Gents is more pertikler." 
 
 " How do you mean ? I don't quite 
 understand." 
 
 " They likes to looh like gentlemen," re- 
 sponded Charles unsympathetically. 
 
 This answer had an exceedingly dispirit- 
 ing effect upon Bob. He wondered what 
 Charles meant by it ? Did he intend to 
 say that no man could look like a gentle- 
 man unless he wore boots and breeches 
 out hunting, or was the remark applicable 
 only to himself ? 
 
 " What the dickens am I to do, then ? '* 
 he enquired despondently. 
 
 Charles scratched his head ; an operation 
 which apparently furnished him with an 
 idea. 
 
 " Couldn't you get into some of Captain 
 Straightem's breeches ? " he suggested. 
 " You and he are about of a size, thous^h 
 you ain't shaped exactly alike."
 
 LONGINa FOR A RIDE. 121 
 
 But Bob firmly repudiated this notion. 
 
 It seemed to him quite sufficient to step 
 into the dead man's shoes, inherit his 
 propert}^, and ride his horses. He drew 
 the line at wearinn^ his clothes. There was 
 something unnatural and repulsive in the 
 thought. 
 
 " No, no ; of course I couldn't," 
 he answered indignantly. " Td sooner 
 cut my throat first. Don't mention it 
 again." And he looked sternly at 
 Charles. 
 
 The latter, though infinitely disgusted, 
 gave up the point, but not before he had 
 succeeded in detracting considerably from 
 Bob's pleasure, and making him feel on 
 thoroughly bad terms with himself. 
 
 Finally, after much hesitation, and still 
 more perplexity, Susan the housemaid was 
 politely called for, and requested to sew 
 on two elastic straps to the hem of Bob's 
 everyday trousers. With this contrivance,
 
 122 A CEACK COU^'TY. 
 
 he devoutly hoped his pantaloons would 
 stop in their place. 
 
 Nevertheless, a species of subdued irri- 
 tation pervaded his being. 
 
 Charles' remarks had left their sting, and 
 the supercilious smile which wreathed his 
 fat and oih' countenance, whilst the straps 
 were being adjusted, still further served to 
 incense Bob and to increase his anxieties as 
 to his " get-up." 
 
 He had very little personal vanity, 
 perhaps because as yet it had never been 
 called into play. Clothes, as clothes, had 
 not formed one of the chief studies of his 
 life, as thev do of the modern " Masher." 
 
 The cut of his coat, the sit of his collar, 
 the c^laze of his cuffs, and elec^ance of his 
 cane, had seldom given him more than a 
 passing thought ; but now, all at once, he 
 began to conceive of the immense benefits 
 which such important items confer upon a 
 man moving, or aspiring to move, in good
 
 LONGING POR A EIDE. 123 
 
 English society. When, eventually, he 
 sallied forth, he could not help confessing 
 to himself that even Charles' opinion 
 carried weight. He would have felt many 
 degrees easier in his mind could he but 
 have been convinced of that individual's 
 approval instead of his undisguised scorn. 
 
 The influences of the mother country 
 were already at work ; and Bob was soon 
 destined to learn how important a factor 
 dress is in the hunting field, and how 
 often by it, and it alone, men are judged, 
 accepted or rejected. 
 
 Ties, bows, buttons, breeches. Who can 
 affect to despise ye ? 
 
 Across Bob's mind flashed a little in- 
 cident, which long ago he remembered 
 having read in some English magazine. 
 The words recurred to him vividly. 
 
 " A man once came out hunting who did 
 not see fit to wear a white collar. In its 
 place he sported a blue spotted comforter,
 
 124 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 which he wcund several times round his 
 thick purple neck. jS^ow that man never 
 got on. He was cut by the county. 
 Nobody knew him. Nobody dreamt of 
 asking him to dinner. The reason ? Oh ! 
 the reason was simple enough. The com- 
 forter damned him. He might have been 
 ever so good a fellow, but not a soul would 
 take the trouble to find out what a person 
 was like wdio was rash enough to dispense 
 with white collars." 
 
 This passage seemed, under present cir- 
 cumstances, so well adapted to himself, 
 that Bob's spirits sank away to nothing at 
 all. 
 
 Thank o-oodness ! he had on a well 
 glazed collar, but then it was of a turn 
 down shape, which Charles strongly con- 
 demned ; and to make matters worse, his 
 tie was blue, and spotted also. 
 
 As for his nether limbs, when he thought 
 of those two elastic straps, and how all his
 
 LONGING FOR A RIDE. 125 
 
 enjoyment and moral peace depended upon 
 their standing the strain to which they 
 were subjected, he really had not courage to 
 glance at them. 
 
 He could not refrain from gloomy mis- 
 giving. 
 
 For what if they were to give way ? In 
 what position should he then be placed ? 
 Torturins^ visions of creased socks, shortened 
 trousers, and white legs, rose to his mind 
 and thrilled it with unutterable dismay. 
 
 But he was fairly started now, and of all 
 his retainers, old Matthews had been the 
 only one to administer a crumb of comfort. 
 
 Bob, as already related, desired to ride 
 Kingfisher, but Kingfisher's wounds were 
 not yet healed, and Matthews had recom- 
 mended a fine, upstanding bay in his place, 
 named The Swell. 
 
 " Is he a good 'an?" asked Bob with 
 some curiosity. 
 
 " Yes, sir, a ripper, particularly at timber.
 
 126 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 You can ride him with confidence. He has 
 but one fault." 
 
 " Any objection to stating it, 
 Matthews ? " 
 
 " No, sir, not in the least. He won't 
 face w.'iter." 
 
 " Oh ! won't he. The beggar ! Not even 
 if he is made to ? " 
 
 " Not even if he is made to," responded 
 Matthews gravely. "The man who rode 
 him last was not one to put up with any 
 denial. 'Owever, we have so few brooks in 
 these parts that The Swell's little peequli- 
 arity don't so much signify." 
 
 So Bob mounted his hunter and rode 
 off. 
 
 He was accustomed to horse exercise, 
 and had constantly been in the liabit of 
 galloping from one end of his farm to 
 the other, but he was not accustomed to 
 the easy paces and springy action of the 
 animal he now for the first time bestrode.
 
 LONGING FOE A HIDE. 127 
 
 In ten minutes lie had forgotten all about 
 the vexations with which his day had begun. 
 As he entered a grass field, and let The 
 
 Swell stride along over the ridge and furrow, 
 he thought that in his whole life he had 
 never experienced a more perfect and 
 exhilaratino' sensation. 
 
 o 
 
 He had decided to ride his hunter out to 
 covert, the meet being within a couple of 
 miles of Straightem Court. But short as 
 was the distance, it proved sufficient to 
 put him on good terms with The Swell, 
 and inspire him with confidence in his 
 mount. 
 
 As he trotted down along, straggly street, 
 bordered on either side by small shops and 
 unevenly built cottages, which went by the 
 name of Morton village (the fixture for the 
 day), and watched the women and children 
 clustering round the doorways, a smile 
 spread slowly over his countenance. 
 
 Everything was new to him ; everything
 
 128 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 a source of interest, \voii(lerment or amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 Unconscious of the fiat ^Yllich had gone 
 forth against him in the names of Lord 
 Littelbrane and General Prosieboy, he 
 looked forward with keen delii^ht to his 
 introduction to an English field and to a 
 pack of well-bred, well-trained English 
 fox-hounds. 
 
 Every nerve in his body was quivering 
 with suppressed excitement. 
 
 It seemed to him that surely this would 
 prove a red-letter day in his life, ever 
 to be looked back upon with gratifying 
 recollections. 
 
 Poor, foolish young man ! He had yet 
 to learn that no pleasure equals the pleasure 
 of anticipation — that joyous picturing of 
 the imagination, which stern reality strips 
 of its fancies, just as approaching winter 
 strips the pretty many-coloured hedge- 
 rows.
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 WELCOMING THE STRANGER. 
 
 Of the natural stiffness of county gentle- 
 men, tlieir reserve towards strangers, their 
 curious reluctance to make fresh acquaint- 
 ances, their distrust of every one who is 
 not at least the friend of a friend, a scion 
 of the aristocracy, or furnished with un- 
 deniable credentials Bob knew absolutely 
 nothing. Cliques and coteries were to him 
 empty, meaningless words. 
 
 Where he came from, such nice distinc- 
 tions had not yet been introduced. 
 
 He had a kind of an idea that people 
 who went out hunting were all " hail 
 fellow, well met " ; the sport united them in 
 bonds of sympathy an 1 companionship ; 
 the farmer was as gool as the lord, the 
 TOL I. 9
 
 IHO A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 tradesman as the farmer. At least, such 
 were Bob's notions. 
 
 They showed how i;]^norant he was, and 
 how extremely little he knew of the Morbey 
 Anstead Hunt. Democratic views were 
 sternly suppressed by that self-approving 
 body of gentlemen known as the Mutual 
 Adorationites. 
 
 When Bob reached the end of the villac^e, 
 he found the cottai]^es widened out on either 
 side in order to inclose a small trianixular- 
 shaped comxmon of about two acres in 
 extent. Here, of a summer's evening, the 
 lads assembled in great force, pitched their 
 wickets and enjoyed a good game of cricket. 
 
 Just now, the point of attraction proved 
 to be a neat little whitewashed inn, over 
 whose door huncf a lar^e and brilliantlv 
 painted signpost. Its 3'ard was full of 
 horses standing champing at their bits, 
 or stamping restlessly as the groom in 
 attendance tightened up the girths, pre-
 
 WELCOMIXG THE STRANGER. 131 
 
 paratory to the mounting of liis master or 
 mistress. The hounds had already arrived 
 and were congregated on the grass, some 
 rolling, some plajdng, some placidly waving 
 their fine-pointed sterns to and fro. 
 
 Burnett stood in their midst, mounted 
 on a powerful, blood-like brown gelding, 
 whilst the first whip occasionally made the 
 lash of his hunting crop crack with a 
 resounding noise, when an inquisitive 
 hound, more excitable and less obedient 
 than his comrades, ventured outside the 
 circle. 
 
 The old ones, who knew w^hat they had 
 
 come out for, were mostly sensible enough, 
 
 but now and again, a youthful member of 
 
 the establishment, possessing an active 
 
 canine mind, would exhibit a propensity 
 
 to make acquaintance with horses' legs, 
 
 or sniff suspiciously at the knots of little 
 
 sturdy boys and girls who stood watching 
 
 the proceedings, half in fear, half in delight. 
 
 9*
 
 132 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Then the thonir descended on the 
 offender's hind quarters, and sent him 
 yelping back from whence he came, 
 smarting under a sense of injury. Bob 
 pulled up his horse, and watched these 
 and similar incidents with keen interest. 
 Nothing escaped him. He noticed the 
 sleekness of the hounds' coats, and what 
 an admirably matched lot they were. He 
 looked down into the depths of their honest, 
 wistful eyes, that appeared now yellow, now 
 brown, now luminously red, according to 
 how the sunlight fell upon them. 
 
 Mongrels he had seen by the score ; but 
 never such hounds as these. It was a 
 delight to watch them ; each movement 
 betrayed high pedigree. One sedate and 
 curiously marked fellow particularly took 
 his fancy. He was a very light hound, 
 almost white, save for a few patches of tan, 
 and he lay on the grass, as if determined 
 not to distress himself until necessarv, with 
 
 I
 
 WELCOAlINu THE STRANGER. 133 
 
 Lis noble head reposing contentedly on out- 
 stretched paws, stained to a dark hue by 
 the muddy roads along which he had 
 travelled. 
 
 " Is that a good hound ? " asked Bob of 
 one of the whips. 
 
 " The best killer in the pack, sir. He 
 comes from Lord Lonsdale." 
 
 And now people began to arrive from 
 every quarter. The little common was 
 dotted over with red coats, thrown up by a 
 sprinkling of black. The sun shone out and 
 made the brass buttons twinkle like miniature 
 stars ; it cast a sheen on the horses' smooth 
 coals, brinoino their stron?^ muscles into 
 high relief, and lighting up the whole stir- 
 ring and varied scene with its clear, genial 
 rays. Overhead was a soft blue sky, across 
 whose broad expanse of tender azure floated 
 a few gossamer clouds, misty and white, 
 their snowy purity contrasting vividly with 
 the distant ether.
 
 134 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Bob — who was naturally observant — 
 thought that, taking? it altoi]^ether, he had 
 never looked upon so goodl}^ a sight. 
 
 He no longer wondered at the pride and 
 enthusiasm Englishmen displayed when 
 talking of fox-hunting. He could fully 
 sympathize with their feelings. 
 
 For even as he gazed at the bright array, 
 a glow of exultation thrilled his veins. In 
 fact, he was so absorbed by all he now saw 
 for the first time, that he did not notice a 
 small group of w^ell mounted, well-appointed 
 men wdio had drawn near and were 
 evidently criticizing the new-comer's 
 ap[)earance. 
 
 Perhaps it was just as well that he 
 escaped seeing the smiles of mingled 
 indignation and contempt which disfigured 
 their countenances, as they stood there 
 and took stock of their fellow- creature. 
 
 Luckily for Bob, it did not enter his 
 head to imagine that he was furnishing
 
 WELCOMING THE STRANGER. 135 
 
 subject of amusement. To tell tlie truth, 
 he had clean forgotten all about those 
 unfortunate elastic straps. The excitement 
 of the moment had chased their memory 
 away. 
 
 Besides, he also was engaged in making 
 mental observations, and had already 
 taken a rapid survey of the assembled 
 field. 
 
 Some few elegant sportsmen he marked 
 down in his mind's tablet as " real swaoff^^er 
 chaps, regular out-and-out swells." 
 Needless to say these were the Mutual 
 Adorationites. Others again appeared to 
 be good fellows, without an atom of 
 " side." 
 
 Yet, curiously enough, Bob's instinctive 
 desire was to make acquaintance with the 
 former rather than with the latter class. 
 Chiefly because these extra-refined indi- 
 viduals were rarities in his Colonial life, 
 hitherto seldom met with ; and also
 
 1S6 A CRACK COUMY. 
 
 because lie had a notion tLey pofefcCfcised a 
 certain amount of originality and con- 
 stituted a type altogether novel in his 
 experiences. Perhaps, too, some inward 
 consciousness whispered that they belonged 
 to an entirely different order — the order to 
 which, by his uncle's death, he ought now 
 to aspire. No doubt they could teach him 
 manners. For manners, above all, were 
 what humble-minded Bob told himself he 
 was sadly deficient in. His heart might be 
 good, his sentiments irreproachable, but 
 what was the use of that without fine old 
 British polish? He was determined to 
 lose no opportunity of acquiring it. 
 
 Meantime, Lord Littelbrane gave the 
 signal for a move to be made, and hounds 
 were at once trotted off at a brisk pace to 
 draw Neverblank Covert, whose name was 
 suggestive of the good sport it invariably 
 afforded. 
 
 It lay on the slope of a hill, removed
 
 WELCOMING THE STRANGER. 137 
 
 from roads and railways, and was situated 
 in a scantily populated portion of the 
 county. The strong, healthy gorse of 
 which it was composed afforded a retreat 
 dear to the vulpine race ; and dire was the 
 disappointment if by any chance Never- 
 blank failed to furnish a fox when called 
 upon. As a rule, the chief difficulty 
 consisted in dislodging the quarry ; for 
 owing to the stoutness of the gorse, it was 
 by no means an easy covert for hounds to 
 draw. 
 
 But to-day they were fresh and eager, 
 and in their ardour heeded not the stabs 
 inflicted on their fine skins by the sharp- 
 pointed prickles. By the end of fixe 
 minutes no less than three foxes were 
 viewed stealing across the rides. 
 
 " Hoick, my beauties. Hoick, hoick at 
 'em," called out Burnett encouragingly, in 
 a mellow, resonant voice that could be 
 heard from afar.
 
 138 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Nevertheless, a considerable delay 
 occurred, during wliicli our friend Bob was 
 on the tip-toe of expectation. 
 
 Once three or four young hounds 
 appeared for a few minutes, and gave chase 
 to a startled hare. Bob immediately joined 
 in the pursuit, but to his intense dis- 
 appointment, up rode the first whip and 
 administered to the offenders such a 
 punishment that they were only too glad 
 to effect a retreat, their sense of guilt 
 w^eighing heavily upon them. 
 
 As for Bob, not being a hound, he was 
 castigated by the human tongue instead of 
 by the lash. To his consternation, he 
 suddenly found himself addressed by a 
 stout, white-haired, red faced, choleric- 
 lookincT old ixcntleman, who at that 
 moment bore a curious resemblance to an 
 infuriated turkey-cock, thanks to the 
 wobbling muscles of his purple throat. 
 
 " God d n it, sir ! Where the devil
 
 WELCOMING THE STEANGEK. 139 
 
 are you going to ? " he roared out at the 
 top of his voice, glaring fiercely at Bob 
 with his small glittering eyes. 
 
 " I thought we were going to have 
 a run," answered the young man 
 apologetically. 
 
 " The deuce you did, and pray," blankety 
 blankety, blank — the reader's ear must not 
 be offended by too faithful a repetition of 
 the general's language — " what the dickens 
 do you mean by encouraging Lord 
 Littelbrane's hounds to run riot ? Eh ! 
 answer me that question." And once 
 more his flabby, pendulous throat became 
 convulsed. 
 
 " I didn't intend to do anything wrong 
 or against the rules," said Bob meekly. 
 "But I fancied we were off." 
 
 "05* I indeed. You seem to possess a 
 lively fancy, sir ; rather too lively when 
 combined with so very^' he laid a sneering 
 emphasis on the word, " small knowledge
 
 HO A cj:ack county. 
 
 of hunting. But youVe made a mistake, 
 let me tell you. The Morbey Anstead 
 don't go in for teaching beginners how to 
 hunt. You had far better try some other 
 pack, for we,' — oh ! the importance, the 
 majesty and superiority contained in that 
 word — " expect people to behave them- 
 selves when they come out with us." 
 
 This speech angered Bob not a little ; 
 still with an effort he stifled his wrath. He 
 had no wish to enter into a quarrel, but more 
 especially did he dislike squabbling with 
 a man so many years his senior. He deter- 
 mined to try the effect of a soft answer. 
 
 " I beg pardon," he said quietly but 
 firmly. " I had no idea that I had com- 
 mitted so gross a breach of etiquette as, 
 according to you, I unfortunately appear 
 to have done." 
 
 But General Prosieboy was not one to 
 be easily appeased. After the conversation 
 which had taken place between himself and
 
 WELCOMINa THE STRANGER. 141 
 
 Lord Littelbrane lie felt as if liis pprsonal 
 honour were at stake, and that he was 
 bound, not only as a gentleman, but also 
 as a M.A., to crush Bob down to the very 
 ground. If his opponent had flown into a 
 temper he would have been more at ease. 
 The young man's humble, yet at the same 
 time manly, manner was just a trifle 
 disconcerting. He must not let his rage 
 evaporate. 
 
 " Damnation, sir," he retorted irately. 
 " You had no idea, indeed ! Pray what 
 excuse is that ? None, none whatever. It 
 cannot be permitted that you should ruin 
 our hounds and spoil our day's sport. 
 People have no right to come out hunting 
 with a pack like the Morbey Anstead when 
 they don't even know the difference between 
 a fox and a hare." 
 
 Bob reddened. The speaker's manner 
 was so intentionally offensive that he 
 realized at last that this foul-tongued old
 
 142 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 gentleman was deliberately setting to work 
 to insult liim. He was a liigli-spirited 3'oung 
 fellow, and having once arrived at this 
 conclusion, no longer made any efTort to 
 conceal his indignation. 
 
 •'Will you be good enough to tell me 
 who you are and what your name is ? " he 
 inquired with considerable heat. 
 
 Blankety— blank. " What's that to you ?" 
 replied the general. 
 
 " A great deal. I wish to know if you 
 are authorized to keep the Field in order, 
 and for what purpose you disgrace yourself 
 by usinc: bad lan^-uaize." 
 
 " Damn it, sir. Do you mean to tell me 
 that you question my authority and wish 
 to know my name ? " 
 
 " You have guessed my desire correcth'." 
 
 *' By gad ! sir, I'm not ashamed of it," 
 returned the other excitedly. " It's Trosie- 
 bo}^ General Frosieboy." 
 
 " A very applicable name, no doubt,"
 
 WELCOMINa THE SrilAXGER. U3 
 
 said Bob, with a sarcasm he could not re- 
 frain from. 
 
 " And as for my authority," continued 
 the general, treating this remark with the 
 contempt it deserved, and inflating himself 
 like a balloon filled full of pride instead of 
 gas, " you need be under no apprehension 
 about that. I am Lord Littelbrane's most 
 intimate friend, and every action of mine 
 invariably meets with his concurrence." 
 
 On such an occasion, when he was 
 fighting the battles of the whole sacred 
 body of Mutual Adorationites, General 
 Prosieboy's conscience told him. that it was 
 a gallant and virtuous thing to draw the 
 long bow. The young man had to be sup- 
 pressed and squashed. At present he 
 showed no sii]fns of submission. 
 
 "I presume tlien," said Bob, with a 
 twinkle in his eye, for General Prosieboy's 
 grandiose manner had an irresistibly comic 
 effect upon him, " that his lordship is by
 
 144 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 no means particular with whom he asso- 
 ciates and has not an easily ofiended ear." 
 
 And so saying Bob galloped off at full 
 speed, for a loud " gane forrard awa-ay " 
 rang through the air, repeating itself in 
 many sounding echoes. This time the fox 
 really took to his heels, and he, Bob, had 
 not a moment to lose. 
 
 General Prosieboy stood for a second 
 and looked after him. Then he shook his 
 head doubtingly. 
 
 " He ought to be settled — he ought to be 
 settled," he- muttered three or four times 
 over in tones full of anxiety and dissatis- 
 faction. " And yet " with an oath, 
 
 " I'm not sure that he is. Mr. Eobert P. 
 Jarrett is just about as tough a customer 
 as I've come across for a lon^ time. How- 
 ever, if he feels inclined to show fight I'll 
 have another shy at him by-andbye." 
 Whereupon he clapped spurs to his horse 
 and rode off for the nearest road.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. 
 
 " Well I'm blowed," said Bob to liimself, 
 as The Swell glided over the pastures with 
 his long, smooth stride. " That old cove's 
 boots and breeches were perfection, and yet 
 I wonder if he is a specimen of the sport- 
 ing gentleman. If so, they must be an 
 uncommonly queer lot." 
 
 But General Prosieboy soon vanished 
 from his thoughts, for the hounds were 
 straight ahead, running hard and mute, 
 whilst the Field were already split up into 
 half-a-dozen different divisions. The Swell, 
 too, was pulling like one not accustomed 
 to the indignity of seeing many of his own 
 species in advance of him. Bob let him go, 
 vol. I. 10
 
 143 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 heiuix also anxious to ^et to the front as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 Altlion£(h, thanks to his recent encoun- 
 ter, he had not been particularly fortunate 
 in securing a start, he soon made the 
 pleasing discovery that, owing to the extra- 
 ordinary speed of his horse, he was only 
 cantering when others were galloping, and 
 before very long he succeeded in joining 
 the leading horsemen. 
 
 This 230sition contented him, and he 
 resolved if possible to maintain it. As 
 before stated, he was accustomed to riding, 
 and what he wanted in judgment he made 
 up in " pluck " and dash. Although The 
 Swell missed the delicate handlini]^ — the 
 artistic lenc^tlicninc^ and shorteninc: of the 
 reins to which he had grown accustomed 
 when carrying his late master — he quickly 
 ascertained that his present one was not to 
 be denied. The good hunter's desire was 
 to be where he could see the hounds. liob*s
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. 147 
 
 wishes were identical, and as he had the 
 sense to leave The Swell pretty well alone 
 at his fences, they got on better than might 
 have been expected. 
 
 They had already flown some six or 
 seven obstacles and had established a 
 friendly communication. Bob's spirits rose 
 almost to the ecstatic pitch. His heart 
 beat fast. Through his veins ran a warm 
 glow that pervaded his whole frame and 
 rendered him, for the time being, insen- 
 sible to danger. Up to this point the 
 fencing had been comparatively easy. But 
 now they came to a narrow gap, blocked 
 entirely by a huge fallen tree. 
 
 The leaders pulled up and looked at it 
 dubiously. Somebody even suggested 
 dismounting and trying to force the 
 stubborn branch3s aside. Bob laughed in 
 his sleeve. This was the species of jump 
 with which he was most familiarized. That 
 bare, brown trunk, with its spreadhig 
 
 10*
 
 148 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 stems shooting between four and five feet 
 in the air, had no terrors for him. 
 
 He gave The Swell a touch of the spurs. 
 No, to be correct, it was more than a touch. 
 He intended the application to be of the 
 gentlest possible nature, but somehow the 
 rowels remained fixed in the animal's sides 
 and the next moment they were over, 
 though not without a scramble. 
 
 Still, he had shown these hard-riding 
 Morbey Anstead gentlemen that the thing 
 was possible to jump, and before many 
 seconds had gone by he was joined by 
 Burnett. At length, after the branches 
 had been considerably beaten down, several 
 other Nimrods hardened their hearts, whilst 
 the timid went off in search of a gate. 
 
 Lord Littelbrane was one of those who 
 had viewed Bob's performance. 
 
 " He's a deuce of a fellow to ride, that 
 nephew of Straightem's," he observed to 
 General Broi^iebov, as the road division
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. U9 
 
 joined them. " A deuce of a fellow, thougli 
 he knows nothing whatever about it." 
 
 •' I'll tell you what he can do as well," 
 said the general with venomous animation. 
 
 " What's that ? " inquired his lordship 
 apprehensively. 
 
 " Talk. He'd talk a dog's hind leg 
 off. Take my advice, my lord, and don't 
 give him the chance of getting in a 
 word." 
 
 '^ I don't mean to." 
 
 " That's right. I had a tussle with 
 him this morning, and he's simply im- 
 possible. Much more so even than I 
 thought." 
 
 " Did you give it to him, Squasher ? " 
 
 " I did," responded the general grimly. 
 *^ But he's not had enough yet. He is one 
 of those gentlemen who require a second 
 dose." 
 
 " One is enough as a rule, is it not ? " 
 said his lordship, with a faint smile.
 
 ino A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 " It is, but I shall take care to make 
 number two a very great many degrees 
 strouGfer." 
 
 Meanwhile, Bob was superlatively happy. 
 Every j^ard that the fox continued running 
 he became increasingly alive to the merits 
 of the animal he bestrode. No wonder, 
 then, he was pleased, for it takes such a 
 combination of qualities to make a good 
 hunter. A sin^^le one <]foes for so little. The 
 fencing is of no use without the speed, or 
 the speed without the staying, and even 
 then, bad manners will often destroy 
 the whole. In short, a horse who pos- 
 sesses every desideratum is almost as 
 hard to find as a pretty woman destitute 
 of vanity, or an ugl}- one who is not 
 soured. 
 
 Fence after fence The Swell threw behind 
 him without a mistake. There are few 
 sensations more delii^htful than beariuor 
 down on a good Lio- i lace, fn-dinir vour
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. 151 
 
 horse come at it exactly in his stride, and 
 feehng b}^ intuition before he takes off that 
 you are safe to get over well. 
 
 Tlie Swell was fresh and in an extra 
 good humour. So far, nothing had 
 occurred to put him out. The ditches 
 were dry and no gleam of obaoxious water 
 offended his eye. Bob's confidence increased 
 momentarily. 
 
 Thirty glorious minutes — minutes full of 
 concentrated enjoyment — had elapsed since 
 the fox broke covert. But the pace had 
 burst him, and he now held out signals of 
 distress. Burnett's sharp eyes spied him 
 stealing wearil}^ down a hedge-row, carry- 
 ing his brush low and his head outstretched, 
 yet with every faculty intent on making 
 his escape. 
 
 But how to get into the same field ? 
 
 The fence that surrounded it was abso- 
 lutely unjumpable. It consisted of a huge 
 bullfinch, black as Erebus, some eight or
 
 152 .A CBACK COUNTY. 
 
 ten feet in height and hordered on either 
 side by a stiff ox raiL 
 
 The boldest Kimrod present recognized 
 that it would be sheer lunacy to attempt 
 such a leap. There was but one means of 
 ingress, namely, through a five-barred gate, 
 but this proved to be securely chained and 
 padlocked. With the smallest possible 
 delay a couple of horsemen dismounted and 
 endeavoured to take the gate off its hinges. 
 No, it would not yield an inch. The 
 assembled group were done. They stood 
 looking at the timber barrier in dismay, 
 whilst hounds burst into a bloodthirsty 
 chorus and raced across the green sward. 
 Burnett cursed the fate that had mounted 
 him on a horse bad at rails. He hesitated 
 and his companions hesitated too. Even 
 in the far-famed Shires, a five-barred gate 
 is a thing not often jumped, but it is done 
 sometimes, and generally either by a well- 
 known bruiser or else by a complete
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. 153 
 
 novice There was one novice present 
 who felt desperate, and who moreover was 
 in a state of such intense physical ecstasy 
 as rendered him impervious to fear. 
 
 " Make way," he called out excitedly. 
 And then he rode resolutely at the gate. 
 
 For a brief second, The Swell did not 
 seem altogether certain whether his rider 
 were in earnest. The next, reassured by 
 that subtle electric current which surely 
 exists between man and horse and speech- 
 lessly communicates to each, the other's 
 intention, he cocked his small ears and 
 gathered himself well together. 
 
 Then with a powerful twist of his hind 
 quarters, he flung over the gate, just tap- 
 ping it lightly with one hoof, and landed 
 safely on the other side. It was both high 
 and stiff, and Bob, conscious of the difficulty 
 of the jump, cast a hasty backward glance 
 to see who intended following in his wake. 
 But nobody showed any disposition to
 
 l."t A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 emulate his example, especially as the lead- 
 ing hounds were already beginning to 
 turn. 
 
 Lord Littelbrane watched Bob's per- 
 formance in silence. If there was one 
 thing he respected more than another it 
 was courage ; perhaps because he sus- 
 pected a deficiency of that quality in his 
 own nature, althouoh nothing would have 
 induced him to admit the fact. Somethini^ 
 very like a tear gathered in his dull blue 
 eyes. 
 
 He turned away, and as he did so, almost 
 came into collision with General Prosieboy. 
 
 " Prosieboy," he said mournfully, " I 
 have never felt the loss of poor, dear Harry 
 so much as at this moment. We have 
 nobodv left to ride for us now." 
 
 ft/ 
 
 " Why, my lord ! What's the matter ? " 
 "The matter!" he replied in tones of 
 indescribable miserv. " That terrible 
 
 ft/ 
 
 person " — a shudder went through his
 
 CUTTING THEM ALL DOWN. 155 
 
 delicate frame — " that nephew of Harry's, 
 has just jumped a five-barred gate and cut 
 us all down." 
 
 " The devil he has ! Well, I'm not sur- 
 prised to hear it. He's mad enough for 
 anything." 
 
 " Yes, but not another man dared follow. 
 Even Burnett turned away." 
 
 " And quite right, too," said General 
 Prosieboy, who was by no means an 
 advocate of riskincf one's neck throuMi the 
 taking of hazardous leaps. 
 
 " It's a shameful thing to let this Colonial 
 fellow take the shine out of all our best 
 men," returned Lord Littelbrane. Then, 
 with an unwonted burst of emotion, he 
 added : " Oil ! Harry, Harry, dear old man; 
 this would never have happened had you 
 still been in the land of the living. The 
 glory of the Morbey Anstead has departed." 
 
 After clearin<]f the five- barred crsitc as 
 related, Bob experienced a few moments of
 
 156 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 triumphant elation ; lie leant forward and 
 patted The Swell's bright, slender bay- 
 neck. But before many minutes his elation 
 changed to dismay. 
 
 First, he was a little disconcerted at 
 finding himself entirely alone. Second, he 
 was not altogether certain how to proceed, 
 and third, he perceived that the hounds 
 had turned sharp back. The last circum- 
 stance was the m.ost annoying of the three. 
 For, as there was but one way into the 
 field, so was there but one way out, and 
 that the same. 
 
 Now it is one thinir to charf]^e a 
 danfTerous obstacle when the fury of the 
 chase is upon you, when your blood is 
 heated to ahnost fever pitch, and dozens 
 of critical eyes are watching your per- 
 formance , but it is a verv different affair 
 having to retrace your footsteps in solitude, 
 perhaps doubting the wisdom of your 
 action in the first instance. It is astonish-
 
 CUITING THEM ALL DOWN. 157 
 
 ing under such circumstances liow much 
 bigger the original leap looks. 
 
 As so often happens out hunting, it 
 proved a case of the timid finding them- 
 selves better off than the brave. The 
 former were now in the same field with 
 the hounds. 
 
 Bob alone was separated from them. 
 He glanced at the gate. There was no 
 other possible mode of joining his com- 
 panions. It looked horribly big, and to 
 make matters worse, the take-off was now 
 slightly up-hill, and indented by hoof- 
 marks of cattle. He saw that he must 
 not give himself time to think. If the 
 thing were to be done at all, it must be 
 done at once. 
 
 But perhaps what decided him was the 
 sight of the noble master and his choleric 
 old friend staring at him from their point of 
 vantage with evident amusement. 
 
 He resolved to fall rather than let him-
 
 158 A CKACK COUNTY. 
 
 self be laughed at by tliem, and sure 
 enough, fall he did. The Swell made a 
 gallaut elTort, but he tripped over some 
 uneven ground just as he took off, and 
 hitting the gate hard with both fore-legs, 
 turned a complete somersault. Bob was a 
 little shaken, but not really hurt, and soon 
 recovered from the shock. lie did not 
 mind the disaster one bit ; but what did 
 get his monkey up, was seeing those two 
 stuck-up, stand-oif men close by never offer 
 to i>ive liim the least assistance. He 
 thought it downright ungentlemanly of 
 them, and felt their conduct very keenly ; 
 especially as he overheard General Prosie- 
 boy say scoffmgly : 
 
 " Ha, ha ! Tried to show of! once too 
 often. Glad he found out his mistake." 
 
 The other nodded his colourless head, 
 and then they rode away together. 
 
 But if the Mutual Adorationites were 
 not kind, others were.
 
 CUTTING them: ALL DOWN. 159 
 
 A jolly, good-natured farmer immediately 
 rushed to the rescue, saying admiringly : 
 
 " Gad, sir ! But that was a gallant 
 jump of yours, and a real nasty one into 
 the bargain ; I hope you are none the 
 worse for the roll ? '' 
 
 " Not in the least, thank you," said Bob, 
 beginning to recover from the annoyance 
 occasioned by Lord Littelbrane's and 
 General Prosieboy's conduct. " And for- 
 tunately the horse is not injured either. 
 At least, as far as I can judge." 
 
 " Ah ! That's lucky, for he's a good 'un. 
 Many's the time I have seen the late 
 Captain Straightem ride him to hounds." 
 
 " By-the-by," said Bob, '•' perhaps you 
 can tell me who that small, fair-haired, 
 drab faced man is, speaking to General 
 Prosieboy." 
 
 The farmer looked in the direction indi- 
 cated. 
 
 " That ! " he said, as if astonished at his
 
 160 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 companion's ignorance. " Oh ! that is Lord 
 Littelbrane." 
 
 " I thought so, responded Bob. " What 
 sort of a fellow is he ? " 
 
 " That's rayther a difficult question for 
 me to answer, sir, seeing as how I am one 
 of his lordship's principal tenants." 
 
 But Bob had already discovered what he 
 wanted to know from the man's manner. 
 
 " Never mind," he said ; " I understand. 
 If a question is difficult to answer, nine 
 times out of ten it answers itself." 
 
 " You're uncommon sharp, sir," said his 
 companion. 
 
 "Think so?" said Bob. "Not sharp 
 enough, I am afraid, to pick up good 
 manners from your English gentleman." 
 
 With which enio^matical remark, beimi 
 now fairly mounted, he rode olT to rejoin 
 the hounds, who were already a couple of 
 fields distant.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GENERAL PROSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 
 
 Bob urged The Swell to his speed and soon 
 overtook the pack. He reached them in 
 the nick of time, for this good, bold fox, 
 finding himself sorely pressed, after dodging 
 round some farm premises to regain his 
 lost wind, once more faced the open, in 
 hopes of gaining Amberside Hill, some two 
 or three miles further on. 
 
 The gallant fellow put on a desperate 
 spurt. He knew it was the last of which 
 he was capable. The country was strong 
 and thickly fenced. For another ten 
 minutes the fun continued fast and furious. 
 
 As if anxious to wipe out the indignity 
 of a fall. The Swell jumped brilliantly, and 
 completely re-established the high opinion 
 
 VOL. I. 11
 
 162 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 he had hitherto held in the estimation of 
 his rider. Such glorious excitement soon 
 made I>ob for£Tet his resentment a^^ainst 
 Lord Littelbrane and General Prosieboy. 
 He felt on good terms with all mankind, 
 himself and his horse in particular. 
 
 For the hounds were in full cry now, 
 pursuing the failing quarry with wide-open 
 jaws, red hanging tongues, gleaming eyes, 
 and upright bristles. Onl}- one more field 
 separated poor Pug from Amberside Hill. 
 His foes were bent on pulling him down 
 before he reached it. He was equally deter- 
 mined to baffle them. It meant life to him — 
 only a mouthful of unsavoury food to them. 
 
 But though he toiled on gamely, he was 
 now in full view, and the baying of the 
 hounds and the yelling of his human 
 enemies served still further to terrify and 
 dishearten him. He just managed to creep 
 through the last fence dividinc^ the road 
 from Amberside Hill, and lay down panting
 
 GENERAL PKOSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 163 
 
 in the ditch, where, hidden by dead brown 
 leaves and yellow edisli, his body was 
 almost undiscernible. If by this ruse he 
 could but gain a few moments, then he 
 might steal into the covert and seek the 
 shelter of a friendly earth. His calcula- 
 tions proved correct, for one by one the 
 eager hounds flashed over him and disap- 
 peared in the wood beyond. 
 
 Excited by the prospect of a near finish 
 to so good a run, every horseman was on 
 his mettle. They did not heed the stiff 
 top-binder that ran through the fence, but 
 charged it in a dozen different places. 
 
 Crash ! crash ! and two sportsmen bit 
 the dust simultaneously, rolling into the 
 road more forcibly than pleasantly. 
 
 Bob got over all right, and hearing the 
 
 noise of falling bodies, turned to see who 
 
 the unfortunates were. To his surprise, he 
 
 perceived that the one nearest to him was 
 
 no less a personage than General Prosieboy, 
 
 11#
 
 164 A CRACK COUNTY, 
 
 who inspired by the universal enthusiasm, had 
 for once ventured on so formidable a leap. 
 
 He was a stout man and a heavy, and he 
 did not fall easily. Few people do when 
 they weigh over fifteen stone and have 
 passed sixty years of age. For several 
 seconds he lay immovable. Perhaps he 
 was more frightened than hurt, but anyhow 
 the sight of his white hairs mingling with 
 the dust filled Bob with a sentiment of 
 compassion. 
 
 " Good for evil," he said to himself ; and 
 in another minute he was olT his horse and 
 liftino; the <][eneral from the oTound. He 
 wiped him clean, caught his hunter, and 
 finally — when he had ascertained that no 
 great damage had been inflicted — helped 
 him to remount. 
 
 All this time General Prosieboy spoke 
 not a word. He accepted the attentions 
 bestowed as if they were his due. At last 
 he gathered up his reins and prepared to
 
 GENEKAL PEOSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 165 
 
 move on. At that moment, Bob, seized by 
 a sudden desire for reconciliation, and also 
 prompted by his good-natured Australian 
 hospitality, looked up at the great M.A. 
 with a pair of honest, pleading brown eyes, 
 and said : 
 
 " Hullo ! old chap. Don't you think you 
 and I might just as well be friends ? " 
 
 To do the general justice, taken by 
 surprise, for one single moment he relented. 
 
 Perhaps Bob saw the softened expression 
 of his face, for he continued, in tones of 
 greater confidence : " I'm all alone, and 
 deuced dull I find it. We have not been 
 formally introduced to each other, but what 
 do you say to coming and taking ' pot luck ' 
 with me this evening at Straightem Court ? 
 Eh?" And as he spoke, he settled one of 
 the general's gouty old feet in the stirrup. 
 
 But that gentleman, ashamed of his 
 momentary weakness, and indignant with 
 himself for having experienced it, recovered
 
 166 A CRACK COUKTY. 
 
 from any temporary feeling of softness. 
 He now con.sidere(l it incumbent upon him 
 to be doubly severe and repulsive in order 
 to atone for the lapse of dignity, which 
 owing to peculiar conditions, had unfortu- 
 nately already taken place. He must not 
 let the enemy see that there was any joint 
 in his armour. 
 
 Consequently he drew himself up in his 
 saddle, protruded his chest, and fixing his 
 cold, gimlet-like eye on the audacious 
 Bob, said in a solemnly frigid voice, as 
 if his feelings were outraged beyond de- 
 scription : 
 
 " Young man, I make a point of 72ever 
 dining with persons whose acquaintance I 
 have not had the pleasure of making in a 
 proper and orthodox manner. The fact is, 
 there are so many outsiders come to hunt 
 with these hounds that it is impossible to 
 be too particular. Under these circum- 
 stances I must decline the honour of taking
 
 GENERAL PROSIEBOY COMES TO THE EROXT. 167 
 
 ' pot luck ' with one who is a complete 
 stranger to me and likely to remain so." 
 
 So saying, and without uttering a single 
 word of thanks for kindness received, he 
 trotted off to a field close by, into which 
 poor Eeynard's body had been dragged, 
 and was there undergoing the final obse- 
 quies. Despite every shift, his murderers 
 had found him out. 
 
 Bob could only i^aze after the general in 
 speechless amazement. 
 
 " Darned old fool ! " he exclaimed at last, 
 with a burst of irrepressible wrath. 
 
 And yet there was something comic 
 
 about the ancient warrior's behaviour too. 
 
 It was so very very small, and displayed so 
 
 lamentably narrow a mind. Angry as he 
 felt at his insolence. Bob could hardly 
 
 suppress a smile. 
 
 But how about these celebrated English 
 
 manners, whose delicacy, refinement, and 
 
 true politeness he had so often heard
 
 168 ' A CEACK COU^iTY. 
 
 quoted at head-quarters? Were these 
 them ? 
 
 Why, out in the bush, if one man be- 
 haved to another man in so gross and 
 insolent a fashion, no name would be con- 
 sidered bad enough for him. But then, 
 on the other hand, the offer of a good 
 dinner did not come as often over there 
 as it did here. Perhaps that fact made all 
 the difference. 
 
 But reason it out as he might. Bob had 
 received a tremendous shock. All his pre- 
 conceived notions had been subjected to 
 severe disillusion, an operation which 
 "whenever it takes place always leaves a 
 feeling of soreness and blankness behind. 
 
 He had been so humble and diffident, so 
 ready to learn of all the Englishmen he 
 came across, simply because they possessed 
 the inestimable advantage of bein^ English- 
 men ; and now he thought that he himself 
 had more polish than they. He might be
 
 GENERAL PROSIEBOY COXES TO THE FRONT. 16» 
 
 rough, blunt, outspoken, but he would 
 have been ashamed to treat a fellow- 
 creature as Lord Littelbrane and General 
 Prosieboy had treated him. 
 
 It took him much longer this time to 
 recover from his disappointment and in- 
 dignation, and during the process he did 
 not attempt to speak to a soul ; in fact, 
 after his experiences of the morning, he 
 laid it down as a rule, so long as he 
 remained in England, not to address a 
 single person until overtures had first been 
 made to him. He would be on the safe 
 side, at any rate, and not expose himself to 
 any more insults and rebuffs. But circum- 
 stances defeated this intention, and pre- 
 vented him from putting it into execution. 
 
 Whilst jogging on to get to the next 
 covert, the whole Field had to pass through 
 a series of nasty little, awkward bridle- 
 gates, that flew to, almost as soon as they 
 were opened. Bob, being mortal and a
 
 170 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 man, had before now noticed a very pretty, 
 smart-looking, little woman, attired in a 
 scarlet jacket, a white waistcoat, and a 
 glossy hat, from beneath which her small 
 coquettish face peeped out very alluringly. 
 An incident now took place that shocked 
 all his sense of chivalry. No less than 
 three gentlemen in succession pushed by, 
 and allowed one of these gates to slam 
 upon this lady, thereby preventing her 
 from gettinof throuirh and hurtino; her hand 
 as she stretched it out in self-defence. 
 
 The very sight made Bob indignant. 
 There was somethinc^ so currish and un- 
 manly about the proceeding to his mind, 
 especially when there was not even the 
 excuse of hounds runninix hard. He 
 darted forward, held the gate open, and 
 although several other men availed them- 
 selves of his courtesy, insisted on the lady 
 passing through before he relaxed his hold. 
 
 So natural did this action appear to him.
 
 GENERAL PROSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 171 
 
 that he was quite astonished to find her 
 waiting for him on the other side. 
 
 " Thank you so much," she said in a 
 clear, cheery voice. " It was awfully good 
 of you letting me take your turn." 
 
 " Please don't mention such a trifle," he 
 said in reply. " Anybody would have 
 done it." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders, and shot an / 
 
 inquiring glance in his direction. 
 
 " Are you well acquainted with the 
 Morbey Anstead ? " 
 
 " No, this is the first time I have been 
 out with them." 
 
 Lady De Fochsey — for it was she — smiled, 
 and leaning confidentially towards Bob, said : 
 
 " You are Mr, Jarrett, are you not. Cap- 
 tain Straightem's nephew ? " 
 
 " Yes, how did you know ? " 
 
 " Never mind, perhaps I guessed. Tell 
 me, are the ladies in your part of the 
 world better treated than tliey are here ? "
 
 172 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 " From what I have seen in your case, I 
 should say, most certainly," said Bob em- 
 phatically. 
 
 "Ah ! don't waste your indignation. 
 The Morbey Anstead females do not expect 
 to be made a fuss with ; if they are tole- 
 rated it is all they can hope for. You see 
 the men think such a tremendous lot of 
 themselves, that it is impossible for them 
 to think much of anybody else." 
 
 " So it appears," said Bob grimly. " You 
 have hit it off exactly." 
 
 " Do you know," and she cast a side-long 
 glance at him, " the highest compliment I 
 have ever received from an M.A. was to be 
 told, I was not in the way. Don't you 
 think a woman ought to feel immensely 
 flattered by such a speech? Ilowever well 
 she may ride, however pretty she may be to 
 look at, and nice to talk to, her highest 
 reward is ' not in the way.' " And her 
 ladyship burst into a little sarcastic laugh.
 
 GENERAL PROSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 173 
 
 "Do you mean to tell me that such a 
 saying is meant for praise ? " asked Bob. 
 
 " Yes," she answered demurely, " from a 
 Mutual Adorationite : very high praise." 
 
 " I don't quite understand the phrase ; 
 what does ' Mutual Adorationite ' mean ? " 
 
 " I won't explain, because it would take 
 too long, and you so soon will find out for 
 yourself. But to return to our sex. When 
 gates out hunting are small, gentlemen in a 
 hurry, ladies numerous, the latter go to the 
 wall. They always do, all through life, for 
 the simple reason that of all animals, man 
 is the most animal, and the most selfish, 
 woman the weakest, and the least 
 protected." 
 
 " I am sorry you should think so badly 
 of us," said Bob. 
 
 "I do not think badly of you,'' she 
 replied, letting her limpid blue eyes rest 
 full upon him. " You exerted your 
 strength in my behalf."
 
 174 A CEACK COUJsTY. 
 
 To her surprise he made no immediate 
 answer. To tell the truth, lie was a little 
 taken aback. Being flattered by a pretty 
 woman was a novel experience. 
 
 " What are vou thinkiniTf about ? " she 
 inquired a trifle pettishly. " You seem as 
 if you had not heard what I said." 
 
 " You must excuse my apparent inatten- 
 tion, Miss " and Bob stopped short, for 
 
 he had not an idea whether his companion, 
 were wife, wudow, or maid. 
 
 She laughed outritrht. 
 
 " Xo, I am not a Miss, tliough you 
 evidently seem to think that I ought to be 
 one. My name is Lady de Fochsey.'' Then 
 she looked at Bob, and told herself he was 
 very w^ ell- favoured, and added softl}-, 
 " widow of the late Sir Jonathan." 
 
 There could be no harm in letting him 
 know that she was free to wed again, if so 
 disposed. 
 
 Besides, she liked young men. Old
 
 GENERAL PEOSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 175 
 
 ones were so dreadfully prosy, and 
 always luould talk of themselves. There 
 was a manly strength about Bob, combined 
 with an honesty and good-huraour of 
 countenance, which she altogether approved 
 of, even although his clothes were not 
 exactly what they might be. But being 
 a woman and he a man, she was inclined to 
 regard this defect leniently, whereas if Bob 
 had belonged to the same sex as herself, 
 every article of costume would have been 
 severely criticized. But ladies are nearly 
 always kinder to gentlemen than to other 
 ladies, and vice-versd. 
 
 "Thv3 fact is," said Bob explanatorily, 
 " whilst you were speaking, I was guilty of 
 the rudeness of making comparisons 
 between your country and mine." 
 " May I ask with what result ? " 
 " Certainly. I came to the conclusion 
 that our men would go simply wild over a 
 pretty woman," Lady De Fochsey smiled
 
 176 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 encouragingly, and Bob, surprised at his 
 own hardihood, added, " like yourself, for 
 instance. Whilst over here, from all 
 accounts, she is not half appreciated at her 
 true value." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " she said, with a twinkle in 
 her eye. "We are appreciated after a 
 eertain brutal fashion, but not in the 
 chivalrous, Homeric way, of which you 
 seem a regular champion." 
 
 " Chivalrous ! Homeric ! " echoed Bob, 
 a trifle puzzled. " I'm afraid I'm rather 
 dull of comprehension.'* 
 
 " Very. Let me put my meaning 
 clearer. Well, then, in Merry England, 
 the pattern of philanthrophy and civiliza- 
 tion, we are regarded in one of two lights. 
 Either we are pretty creatures, fatted and 
 kept sleek at our lord's pleasure, or else we 
 are beasts of burden, who have to do all 
 the hard work, and get none of the credit ; 
 who screw and save at home, whilst
 
 GENERAL PKOSIEBOY COMES TO THE FRONT. 177 
 
 monsieur mon mari cuts a figure in the 
 world, and spends all the money on 
 amusing himself. " Oh, yes ! I know." 
 And she pouted her full lips in a 
 provocative manner. 
 
 "No one could associate you with the 
 beast of burden," said Bob, growing bolder 
 as her ladyship became more gracious. 
 
 She laughed airily and changed the 
 conversation. 
 
 " Come," she said, giving her horse a 
 touch of her heel, " tliose tiresome hounds 
 are nearly out of sight. We must be 
 movinnf on." 
 
 Whereupon they put their respective 
 steeds into a canter, but Lady De Fochsey's 
 chestnut was completely outpaced by The 
 Swell, and further conversation was there- 
 fore carried on under difficulties. Just 
 then her ladyship spied Lord Littelbrane a 
 little way ahead. 
 
 " Good-bye, for the present," she called 
 
 VOL I. 12
 
 178 A CRACK COU>'TY. 
 
 out, " come and sse me soon. Any one 
 will tell you where I live. Your aboriginal 
 ideas are as interesting to me as, it is to be 
 hoped, my English ones are to you."' And 
 she waved the tip of her fingers. 
 
 Whereupon Bob rode on, considering he 
 had had his dismissal, and consoling himself 
 by thinking it really did not so much matter 
 what the men were like, when the ladies 
 were so very, very charming, and so entirely 
 free from all stiirness and ceremon3^ 
 
 As for calling, of course he should call, 
 and only too thankful for the chance. 
 
 She was undeniably pretty, although 
 after the first flutter of excitement had 
 passed, he told himself that, in spite of her 
 ladyship's charms, she was not altogether 
 "his style." 
 
 She wanted something. He was not quite 
 sure what ; but he fancied it was soul. 
 
 It was very pleasant, having agreeable 
 things said to one, but then the pleasant-
 
 GENERAL PR03IEB0Y COMES TO THE FRONT. 179 
 
 ness was in some degree diminislied if you 
 were not quite certain of the speaker's 
 sincerity, and could imagine her making the 
 same pretty little speeches to every man of 
 her acquaintance. After the reception he 
 had met with, it was extremely ungrateful 
 of Bob to harbour such ideas, yet they 
 occurred to his mind almost involuntarily. 
 
 Some inward voice seemed to warn him, 
 that however much he might be captivated 
 by Lady De Fochsey, he should never find 
 in her the ideal woman, with whom some 
 day he hoped to pass his life in perfect 
 sympathy and community of spirit. 
 
 All the same, he was flattered by the 
 notice she had taken of him. Besides, she 
 was the first person, excepting Farmer 
 Jackson, who had spoken to him in a frank 
 and friendly fashion. She had lifted the 
 sense of isolation that had gradually 
 stolen over his spirit, and he felt more able 
 now to put up with sneers and insults. 
 
 12*
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A CHARMING WOMAN. 
 
 Lady De Fochsey had many admirers. 
 Amongst their number it was not often she 
 encountered one who had the keen insii^ht 
 to look beyond a pretty, superficial surface 
 and seek to gauge the depths or shallows 
 of her real character. 
 
 Hers was not an uncommon type of 
 womanhood. A type that fluctuates 
 between the good and the bad, and is con- 
 tinually being attracted and repulsed first 
 by one, then the other. Stability is difficult 
 to arrive at under such circumstances, and 
 scarcely to be looked for. "Without will- 
 ]M)U'er, that much talked of thing, the 
 human soul is but a poor vapid affair.
 
 A CHARING W0MAN1 J 181 
 
 Lady de Foclisey was frivolous, and yet 
 not conscious of her frivolity ; artificial to 
 a degree, but not purposely or intentionally 
 SD. Her nature was light, facile, variable, 
 and, unfortunately for herself, it possessed 
 certain dramatic instincts, which all through 
 life made her seek for and delight in 
 " situations." As an actress she might 
 have made a reputation, since as a woman 
 she never could, refrain from actinij^. She 
 meant no harm by it. It was only imagin- 
 ing the worldj a stage and she the player. 
 Occasionally some of her parts fitted in 
 very well. They did produce an effect. 
 At other times thay failed, and then of 
 course the player was abused and called a 
 " humbug," if not worse. 
 
 And yet, in the real sense of the word, 
 Lady de Foclisey was not a humbug. 
 She was true to the instincts implanted 
 within her. That they were changeable, 
 capricious, ever striving after sensation,
 
 182 A CEACK COU^"TY. 
 
 was perhaps more her misfortune than her 
 fault. It is not given to all women to be 
 strong and simple, to see the follies of their 
 sex, and as much as possible stand aloof 
 from them. There must be butterflies, even 
 if their pretty wings are frail and liable to 
 be smirched and stained. 
 
 Lady de Fochsey's conversation was 
 bright and by the majority all the more 
 appreciated from the fact of its containing 
 no depth whatever. With her pretty face 
 and neat figure, few ever noticed if she 
 floundered a bit whenever the more serious 
 topics of the day were mentioned, or got 
 hopelessly muddled if by any chance 
 the sciences and ologics were touched 
 upon. 
 
 What did it matter ? Women were 
 made to be amusing, not clever. Nobody 
 wanted them to be cleverer than the men 
 — it was only upsetting the long-established 
 order of things, which worked so satis-
 
 A CIL\.RMING WOMAN. 183 
 
 factorily for the male portion of crea- 
 tion. It is so easy to starve another per- 
 son's intellect and then say, " You are a 
 fool," and so hard for the person thus 
 treated to disprove the assertion. Many 
 women now-a-days want a chance given 
 them — a chance of enlarging their educa- 
 tion and proving the real grit of which 
 they are made. Lady De Fochsey had no 
 such ambition. She would rather lead up to 
 an emotional situation with a man, very 
 human, very weak, and if a little erring so 
 much the better, than aspire to the highest 
 knowledge. She liked experimentalizing 
 and finding: out what chords and combina- 
 tions could be wrum? from the masculine 
 nature. 
 
 About the female one she troubled her- 
 self very little, except in her own individual 
 case. 
 
 She considered that her duty in the world 
 was to smile graciously, make full use of
 
 184 A CEACK COU^"TY. 
 
 her china-blue eyes, pay little insincere 
 compliments and by so doing get herself 
 talked about as " a charming woman." 
 
 This duty she fulfilled admirably, though 
 it must be admitted she possessed more 
 allies amongst the men than amongst the 
 ladies. 
 
 Taken as a general rule, the hunting- 
 field is not a sphere calculated to develop 
 the exchange of many intellectual ideas. 
 When pursuing the fox, her ladyship was 
 in her element. 
 
 To have a train of young men, no matter 
 how vapid they might be, always dangling 
 about her habit- skirt, rendered her su- 
 premely happy. The more the happier. 
 It was a delight to count them up ; a real 
 grief to find that one had escaped from his 
 allegiance. She called them her " tame 
 cats," and was perpetually getting up pretty 
 little scenes with them, that would have 
 been an ornament to any private theatricals.
 
 A CHARMING WO:\IAN. 185 
 
 Act the first was invariably : " Charming 
 woman — love at first siu^ht." Act the 
 second — " Quarrel. Charming woman 
 misunderstood." Act the third — " Grand 
 reconciliation. Charming^ woman more 
 charming than ever." Sometimes, however, 
 but never when she could help it, there 
 was a fourth act — " Break away of cap- 
 tive, charming woman in despair — con- 
 founded at hearino: herself abused." 
 
 It is astonishing how many varieties 
 this little play was capable of. The chief 
 actor never seemed to tire, but derived 
 fresh amusement from every rehearsal. 
 
 All were fish that came to Lady De Foch- 
 sey's net. She welcomed Bob as a new 
 admirer, partly because she was already 
 prepossessed in his favour by the episode 
 of the gate, and partly owing to her own 
 peculiar ideas of true love. 
 
 She was always in search of true love, 
 yet curiously enough had never found it.
 
 1^6 A CKACK COUNTY. 
 
 When slie married the late Sir Jonathan, 
 fat, red and wealthy, twenty years older 
 than herself, she was persuaded the grande 
 fassion had come at last. It hadn't. 
 
 Two years of matrimony completely did 
 away with the illusion as far as the baronet 
 was concerned. Query : — Would she have 
 entertained it if he had not had twelve 
 thousand a year ? 
 
 When Sir Jonathan died, Lady De Foch- 
 sey did not weep her eyes out. After a 
 decent interval — it was scarcely more — she 
 recovered from her grief. 
 
 And now ! behold the beautiful con- 
 fidence of the female nature. She was so 
 romantic, so trustful and enthusiastic, that 
 she firmly believed there was no reason, 
 because one man had failed to answer her 
 expectations, why another should do the 
 same. 
 
 She had now been a widow for five 
 years, was twenty-eight years of age, and
 
 A CHARMINa WOZVIAN. 187 
 
 began to feel a trifle disappointed with 
 herself, for not havino- succeeded in fallins^ 
 in love. 
 
 She was puzzled why the grande passion 
 did not arrive. She had done her best to 
 foster it, by reading all sorts of novels of 
 the ardent, consuming, soul-too-big-for- the- 
 body type. If anything could have kindled 
 the required spark such literature ought to 
 have proved successful. 
 
 It heljDed a little, but only a little, for 
 the provoking part of it was, that noble 
 and high-flown as were the theories pro- 
 pounded, they did not work well when 
 applied to practical life. There was always 
 a hitch somewhere. 
 
 The Byronic young man with dark pas- 
 sionate eyes, hollow cheeks and wondrous 
 magnetic power over all the women with 
 whom he came in contact — the young man 
 who cared nothing for material comforts, 
 who disdained luxury, and did not even
 
 188 A CEACK COUKTY. 
 
 care for a good dinner, was not to be found 
 now-a-days. The type was dying out, and 
 every year became more scarce. Lady 
 De Fochsey entertained a species of venera- 
 tion for it ; but even she could not help 
 admitting, in her own secret consciousness, 
 that living on romance and sentiment, and 
 whimscal, high-flown words, might be an 
 exceedingly fine thing, yet when put to 
 the actual proof, it was a still finer thing 
 after a hard day's hunting, when you 
 came home tired and wet, to find a nice 
 warm room, a glowing fire and a recherche 
 little repast awaiting you. 
 
 When she stretched herself out full- 
 length on a sofa, attired in a captivating 
 tea gown, and read one of the fashionable 
 Spiritualistic novels on the mysteries of the 
 occult world, astral planes, electric forces 
 and so on, she never could quite determine 
 in her own mind how much or how little 
 of an impostor she was.
 
 A CHARMING WOMAN. 189 
 
 For slie did like her comforts — especially 
 when she could enjoy them in private. It 
 was impossible to deny the fact, and what 
 was worse, each year she seemed to like 
 them better. But then on the other hand 
 how exquisitely divine it must be for your 
 amorous soul to have the power of making 
 little celestial expeditions quite independent 
 of its mundane body, and go flitting and 
 flying about in search of the much-wished- 
 for and sure-to-exist-somewhere kindred 
 spirit. 
 
 There was something ecstatic, captivat- 
 ing and ennobling in the very idea. 
 
 And then the delii?ht of the kindred 
 spirit! The meeting, the joy, the embrac- 
 ing 1 It is to be feared that Lady De Foch- 
 sey's little head was often in a muddle. 
 She accepted every new theory of the day, 
 without understandincf a sinc^le one. 
 
 The conflict going on between her body 
 and her soul verged on the pathetic.
 
 190 A CRACK COUxNTY. 
 
 She could not make up her mind whether 
 to throw in her lot with things heavenly or 
 things earthly. They both had their fas- 
 cinations, and the struggle was terrible. 
 
 When she found disappointment in the 
 one, she had recourse to the other. But 
 durinir the huntinsf season, terrestrial in- 
 fluences decidedly preponderated. 
 
 She could not help liking smart habits 
 and nice clothes, nor could she refrain 
 from a feeling of triumph when she re- 
 flected that her waist with a little squeezing 
 only measured twenty inches round, and 
 that she could tie a tie better than nine 
 hunting men out of ten. 
 
 Such facts as these compensated for a 
 good many minor disappointments. 
 
 Chief amongst the latter, had been tlie 
 want of attention hitherto paid to her by 
 Lord Littelbrane. 
 
 As a man, she did not care for him one 
 bit, and moreover with that marvellous —
 
 A CHARMINa WOMAN. 191 
 
 what may fairly be called husband — instinct 
 possessed by the sex, she knew that she 
 never should. 
 
 He exhibited none of those points which 
 attract a woman. 
 
 He was neither handsome, nor good 
 company, nor miserable, nor mysterious, 
 nor magnetically sympathetic. He was 
 just Lord Littelbrane, with fifteen thou- 
 sand a year, and if he had not been Lord 
 Littelbrane, everybody would have said 
 what a dull, stupid, uninteresting little 
 creature he was, and laughed at him for 
 giving himself airs. 
 
 Although his lordship invariably bowed 
 to Lady De Fochsey, and sometimes even 
 went the lenfjth of makin^x a remark about 
 the weather, she was distinctly aware, that 
 in spite of sundry small overtures on her 
 side, she had failed to make any impres- 
 sion. Now this knowledge always irritates 
 a woman, especially if she be young and
 
 192 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 pretty, and a flirt. The game may not 
 repay the trouble, but if she can't play 
 it to her mind then she always hankers 
 after it. 
 
 This was exactly Lady De Fochsey's 
 case. 
 
 Besides, she considered it the " proper 
 thing " to be hand-in-glove with the master, 
 if only because he loas the master. She 
 could forgive his showing no civility to 
 any other ladies, if he showed it to her. 
 But to be treated exactly the same as the 
 whole tribe of women who hunted with the 
 Morbey Anstead hounds, women who had 
 no pretensions to good looks, who had not 
 an idea of "getting themselves up," who 
 did not wear scarlet jackets and white 
 waistcoats, and whose waists were as flat 
 as pancakes, was exceedingly mortifying. 
 Nay, not only mortifying, but incomprehen- 
 sible. It went beyond her experience 
 everywhere else. By much flattery and
 
 A CHARMING WOMAN. 193 
 
 insensibility to downright rudeness, she had 
 contrived to a certain extent to ingratiate 
 herself with the Mutual Adorationites. 
 They all condescended to speak to her, but 
 the desire of her life was to get up a 
 flirtation with Lord Littelbrane, if only for 
 the fun of paying him out for having 
 resisted her charms so long. For that he 
 should have done so was in every way 
 unaccountable. She wanted to see him 
 incorporated among her " tame cats ; " 
 then wouldn't she lead him a pretty dance. 
 
 - i— 1^ -^— i'^:—^ ^^\-r 
 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 
 
 With the instincts of a tliorougli coquette 
 Lady De Foclisey slightly slackened lier 
 horse's speed, as she overtook Lord Littel- 
 brane. If he wished to join her, he should 
 have the opportunity. Thus thinking, she 
 favoured him to one of her sweetest smiles. 
 It was by no means the first time she had 
 smiled upon him ; but she told herself that 
 random smiles w^ere like air-wafted seeds, 
 there was alwa}s a chance of their bring- 
 ing forth fruit. 
 
 So she smiled on and on, with all a 
 w^oman's perseverance, and with all a 
 woman's resolution to turn failure into 
 success. This man's impenetrability had 
 piqued her, otherwise she would never have
 
 LOVE J3Y SELECTION. 195 
 
 troubled lier liead about him. He was far 
 too stilT and solemn for lier taste. She 
 liked people who could tell a good story, 
 who could appreciate one when they heard 
 it, and who didn't mind calling a spade a 
 spade. Now, with his lordship it had to 
 be termed a " trowel," or else an " imple- 
 ment for dio'f^ins^ the earth." She liked fun 
 and gaiety and amusement, whereas all he 
 seemed to think about were the " pro- 
 prieties." 
 
 And she was sick to death of them ; they 
 had been dinned into her ears ever since 
 her girlhood, and Sir Jonathan, in his time, 
 had frequently waxed eloquent on the 
 subject. 
 
 Lad}^ de Fochsey was a woman to whom 
 admiration was as the breath of life. But 
 she possessed a certain amount of worldly 
 sharpness, and had long since come to the 
 conclusion that the best way of attracting 
 men was by amusing them ; and if }'0u
 
 196 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 amused them, it did not do to be too 
 particular either in your manners or your 
 conversation. She had not a very exalted 
 idea of the male sex, nevertheless she could 
 not do without masculine society, and often 
 weakened her own self-respect in tlie 
 efforts she made to prove agreeable. She 
 could no more help casting an inviting 
 glance at Lord Littelbrane than she could 
 help being a social butterfly. That glance 
 seemed to sa}^ : " Oh ! do come and talk to 
 poor little me. For goodness sake, don't 
 be so stand-off." 
 
 Had it not been for his lordship's late 
 feeling of desolation, he might not have 
 construed the look in this manner, but big 
 with his resolution of committing matri- 
 mony, he was more amenable to feminine 
 influences. Therefore he responded to 
 Lady De Fochsey's pretty smile, and can- 
 tered up to her side. She immediately 
 checked the chestnut's speed.
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 197 
 
 " Good morning," she exclaimed gaily. 
 *'I have not had an opportunity of ex- 
 changing a word with you all this long, 
 long time. You seemed determined on 
 ignoring my existence." 
 
 He reddened. His conscience pricked 
 him more than was agreeable. 
 
 " Now that is positively unkind of you 
 to say such a thing. Of course one can't 
 speak to everybody who comes out 
 hunting, but you," rather clumsily, " you 
 are different." 
 
 " Ahem ! that's a mercy : it's gratifying 
 to my feelings to find I am not included in 
 the list of people with whom your lordship 
 cannot condescend to hold converse in the 
 hunting field." 
 
 The satire was lost upon him ; he only 
 thought her words showed a very proper 
 sense of his position and of the responsi- 
 bilities entailed by it. 
 
 " Oh ! Ah ! You see there are so many
 
 198 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 queer folks come out with these hounds 
 that one is bound to draw the Hne some- 
 where." 
 
 "Of course," she answered with fine 
 irony, " still it is pleasing to find you do 
 not draw it at me, as I began to suspect. 
 One has feelings, you know," shooting a 
 lana'uishino' Hance at him, " even although 
 
 coo ' tJ 
 
 one is only a woman." 
 
 " I have feelings too," he said solemnly, 
 lookino^ as c^rave as an undertaker. 
 
 O D 
 
 "I'm delighted to hear it, my lord. 
 Upon my word, there have been times when 
 I doubted their existence : I should think 
 they were very uncomfortable ones, judg- 
 ing from your manner." 
 
 " They are rather," he admitted, re- 
 lapsing into silence. He did not wish to 
 do anything precipitate, and he thought he 
 had iione far enough on that tack for the 
 
 c o 
 
 present. There were just one or two little 
 points which he w^anted to ascertain before
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 199 
 
 committing liimself. Was slie a flirt, was 
 she the least bit " loud," and was that 
 pretty waist of hers produced by tight- 
 lacing, or merely the result of natural 
 slimness ? He set his face against women 
 compressing this particular portion of their 
 body unduly. It was detrimental to the 
 future race. When he married, he intended 
 to marry with one given object in view. On 
 that point he w^as quite determined. 
 Nothino^ else could have induced him to 
 sacrifice his bachelor independence. At 
 forty-six men are apt to regard matrimony 
 as a dubious pleasure ; they have become 
 too selfish and too confirmed in their own 
 habits. 
 
 But in spite of her companion's tacitur- 
 nity, Lady De Fochsey had no intention of 
 allowing their interview thus soon to come 
 to an end. So uood a chance of insertinor 
 the thin edge of the w^edge might not occur 
 again for a long time. If he would not
 
 200 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 talk on one subject she would try another, 
 a very harmless and innocent one, that 
 could not possibly frighten him. Perhaps 
 she had been a little — just a little — too 
 sarcastic, only she did so long to give him 
 a good shake, and put some life and 
 naughtiness into him. He was so fright- 
 fully slow and heavy, and yet did not seem 
 to have the least idea of the fact. 
 
 " Dear me ! " she exclaimed, reinimi in 
 her horse, with a gesture of feminine ex- 
 haustion. "What a terribly long jogl 
 How much further is it to the covert ? " 
 
 She thought it well to ascertain what 
 time was likely to be accorded her, so as to 
 make a satisfactory disposition of her 
 forces. 
 
 " Only about a quarter of a mile," he 
 answered, taking stock of the width of her 
 chest and the symmetry of her limbs. A 
 narrow-chested woman would not have met 
 with his approbation.
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 201 
 
 " What a comfort ! That's the most 
 cheering piece of news I've heard for a 
 long time." 
 
 " Are you tired, Lad}^ De Fochsey ? " 
 
 " Dreadfully so ; Burnett has been going 
 at such a tremendous pace ; I can*t think 
 what has made him in so great a hurry. 
 Poor Little Mayfly," bending forward 
 and patting her horse's neck, " is quite 
 hot." 
 
 "And her mistress? " 
 
 "Her mistress is hot too." 
 
 " Why don't you walk a litlle, and take 
 a rest ? " he su2!"2:ested. 
 
 Co 
 
 '' I can't, I should be left alone, all by 
 myself, miles away from everybody." 
 " Not if you will let me stay with you." 
 She turned her blue eyes full upon him. 
 She had never noticed before how weak 
 and watery his colourless ones were, but 
 she softened her voice, and said caress- 
 ingly :
 
 !:02 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 '^ Tore ! oil ! Lord Littelbrane ; you 
 can't be in earnest, surely ? " 
 
 " Yes/' he rejoined, growing bolder. 
 " Why not me as well as another ? " and 
 the warm blood rushed up into his faded 
 face, giving it quite an animated ex- 
 pression. 
 
 Again she smiled ; this time with con- 
 scious triumph. Her theory of the seedling 
 had proved correct. A clever woman has 
 only to bide her time, and there are very 
 few men who will escape her. If she has 
 good looks as well, then she can count 
 almost surely on the result. 
 
 " You — you are very kind," she said, 
 coyly. 
 
 " I think you mioht trust me a little 
 bit," he said, dropping his voice. 
 
 But this was too much for her ladyship's 
 sense of the ridiculous. She lauHied out 
 loud. 
 
 " I liave trusted you, Lord Littelbrane, I
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 203 
 
 have trusted you for tlie last three years, 
 and hunted regularly with these hounds. 
 Only " checking herself abruptly. 
 
 " Go on," he said impatiently. " Only 
 what ? " 
 
 " Must I tell you ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then," raising her limpid blue eyes 
 reproachfull}^ to his, '■ j^ou have never 
 displayed the slightest wish for me to place 
 faith in you until to-day. I have trusted 
 you enormously, but always — from a 
 distance." 
 
 He felt flattered. He was not sharp- 
 witted enouo'h to detect the fine stinc^ of 
 irony present in even her prettiest speeches ; 
 at all events he chose only to extract the 
 honey. 
 
 " Lady De Fochsey," he said, with con- 
 siderable agitation, " will you promise me 
 something ? " 
 
 " What is it, my lord ? A wise woman
 
 204 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 never makes rash promises. She listens 
 first, and promises afterwards." 
 
 " Promise that you will trust me from a 
 distance no longer." 
 
 She hesitated for a moment — just a 
 pretty little feminine hesitation, calculated 
 to make him more eager. Then, with 
 another swift upward look of the blue eyes, 
 she said demurely : 
 
 "It is for you, not me, to decide the 
 distance. You can hardly expect me to 
 make the first advances. Eemember, that 
 for these three long years I have always 
 been under the impression you did not 
 like me." 
 
 Never had Lady De Fochsey appeared 
 to greater advantage than when she uttered 
 these words. 
 
 The air and exercise had brought a 
 rosy flush to her cheeks. Her eyes 
 sparkled with fun, -triumph, and ex- 
 citement, and her neat, upright figure.
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 205 
 
 with its perfectly fitting scarlet coat, 
 swayed voluptuously to and frOj yielding 
 to every movement of lier horse. What 
 matter that the captivating golden fringe, 
 which peeped from beneath her hat, was 
 false ; or that she was suffering agonies 
 from the pretty little patent leather boot 
 displayed with such extreme liberality ? 
 The soul knoweth its own bitterness, and 
 Lord Littelbrane knew nothing of these 
 things. He saw her only as she appeared 
 to the outside world, not as she was and 
 felt to herself. 
 
 " Me ! Dislike you f' he stammered, 
 beginning to wonder at his own indiffer- 
 ence. '' How could you have entertained 
 so preposterous an idea ? " 
 
 " I did not know — I — I thought you 
 tried to avoid me." 
 
 " Pure imagination, my dear lady. The 
 fact of the matter is, that in my position 
 as master of hounds, it does not do for me
 
 206 A CRACK COUMTY. 
 
 to display any active preferences out 
 hunting." 
 
 " You have certainly succeeded in con- 
 cealing them admirably," she interrupted, 
 her love of fun j^^ettiiii:? the better of her 
 prudence. "No one could possibly have 
 suspected that you entertained any. In 
 fact your avoidance of womankind was 
 almost marked," 
 
 " 1 don't profess to be what is called a 
 lady's man," he said, not without a touch 
 of pride. 
 
 "And I am sure that nobody would 
 accuse vou of beinir one " she retorted in 
 her most agacante manner. 
 
 " But," he went on, blushing up to the 
 very roots of his hair, " I have always 
 admired you. Always," emphatically. 
 " From the very first." 
 
 She burst into a peal of silvery laughter. 
 
 " Oh ! mv lord, vou do me too much 
 honour. 1 am charmed to hear it/' And
 
 LOVE B^ SELECTION. 207 
 
 throuo-Ia lier vain little frame shot a thrill 
 
 o 
 
 of triumph. 
 
 " Ton my soul, it's the truth. You're 
 an awfully nice woman." 
 
 " In that case, you must be a very stupid 
 man not to have found it out sooner." 
 
 " By Jingo ! I believe you are right. 
 You think I have been remiss in my atten- 
 tions, do 3^ou ? " 
 
 " I did not say so, my lord." 
 
 " No, but your words implied it. Come, 
 tell me. Have I not guessed pretty near 
 the mark? " And he sidled up an inch or 
 two nearer to her. It pleased his vanity to 
 think that she had been hankerini]^ after 
 him and felt hurt by his non-sociability. 
 
 " I will not make any damaging admis- 
 sions," she responded, " though perhaps," 
 sighing sentimentally, " it may have 
 occurred to me now and again, that you 
 considered women out of place in the 
 huntini? field."
 
 208 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 " I swear that I never tliouglit any such 
 thing. Why! Lady De Fochsey, I have 
 always looked upon you as one of the chief 
 ornaments of my hunt." 
 
 She could not suppress her mirth. It 
 was so irresistibly funny after three whole 
 years to find him wake up all of a sudden, 
 for no apparent rhyme or reason, and begin 
 paying her a series of grave and elaborate 
 compliments. She hardly knew whether 
 he was in earnest or not. 
 
 But anyway, she had not the least 
 intention of letting him see how elated she 
 felt. She was far too well versed in the 
 ways of the world to jump down a man's 
 throat who had committed the heinous 
 offence of taking such an unconscionable 
 time in discoverinix her attractions. True, 
 it was better than not fmding them out at 
 all, but he must be made to feel his own 
 stupidity — the pleasures he had missed. 
 
 " You will turn my head by so much
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 209 
 
 adulation," she said demurely. " May I 
 venture to ask when you first made the 
 discovery of my being an ornament to 
 your hunt ? It must have been extremely 
 recent." 
 
 Her mocking, airy tone disconcerted, 
 whilst it provoked him. He hated " chaff." 
 And across his mind dimly crept tlie idea 
 that she was " chaffin^y " liim. 
 
 " I have stated a fact," he said reprov- 
 ingly, " and you seem to doubt my word, 
 I don't like sceptical people." 
 
 " Quite right," said her ladyship quiz- 
 zingly. " They are apt to be bores at 
 times. Nevertheless, I do not think you 
 need feel surprised at my being a little 
 slow of belief. It has only just dawned 
 upon me, that I am an ornament, at all 
 events in your eyes." 
 
 '*I suppose you thought me blind, 
 then ? " he said somewhat huffily. 
 
 " I am not quite sure. I believe I con- 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 210 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 sidered you blind, after the manner of those 
 who won't see. People say that is the 
 worst form of any." 
 
 " Well, my eyes are opened at last, at 
 any rate, and I apologise for all my short- 
 coniino's." 
 
 *' Don't," she said jestingly. " It would 
 take you such a long time. Besides," 
 shrugging her shoulders with a coquettish 
 gesture, " it really would be too absurd to 
 apologise to me, because it has never 
 entered your head to see anything to 
 admire in me, until to-day." 
 
 Her persistent levity had the effect of 
 making him more earnest. 
 
 "It by no means follows that a man does 
 not admire a woman because he has not 
 the impudence to tell her so to her face," 
 he said, with some heat. 
 
 " Don't you think women very easily 
 forgive that sort of impudence ? " she 
 asked innocently.
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 211 
 
 " I hardly know." 
 
 " Do 3^011 suppose / would not have 
 forgiven you, Lord Littelbrane." And 
 the arrant little flirt looked wickedly- 
 round at him with her babyish turquoise 
 eyes. 
 
 " Well — perhaps you might," he an- 
 swered, beginning to feel his head swim, 
 and his heart beat with a stran!2^e and 
 unaccustomed sensation. 
 
 " Then why didn't you tell me ? " 
 
 This was a regular " poser," and he took 
 some time before making any answer. At 
 length he said, with a return to his serious 
 manner : 
 
 " I could tell you a good many things if 
 I chose." And he stared straic^ht out over 
 his horse's ears, as if afraid to encounter 
 another glance so full of temptation as the 
 last. 
 
 " Do," she said persuasively. " I'm all 
 
 curiosity." 
 
 14*
 
 212 A CRACK COUxNTY. 
 
 He looked undecidedly at lier for a second, 
 then turned his head away. 
 
 " Perhaps I may some day," he responded 
 with growing solemnity, for the immense 
 gravity of the step he had in contempla- 
 tion weighed upon his spirit like a ton of 
 iron. 
 
 If he married, it was from a sense of 
 
 duty alone, not to gratify his personal 
 
 inclinations. He was bound to commit 
 
 matrimony sooner or later, and the lady of 
 
 his choice was equally bound to be young, 
 
 healthy and well-bred, in order to bring 
 
 into the world a desirable number of little 
 
 Littelbranes. Selection was a thing he 
 
 had not studied very deeply, but he opined 
 
 that it should certainlv be exercised 
 
 amongst people in exalted spheres. His 
 
 own, he considered a very exalted sphere; 
 
 and therefore the mother of the future 
 
 heir of Littelbrane Castle was a being not 
 
 to be chosen from the low standard of
 
 LOVE BY SELECT10>', 213 
 
 human passion, but from the far nobler 
 and loftier one of the influences she was 
 likely to bring to bear upon posterity. 
 
 Keeping this laudable object steadily in 
 view, Lord Littelbrane had slowly come to 
 the conclusion that amongst all the ladies 
 of his acquaintance, Lady De Fochsey best 
 fulfilled the necessary conditions. 
 
 Eight-and- twenty was an excellent age. 
 Neither too young nor yet too old. The 
 only thing that distressed him, was that 
 she had had no family by her first husband. 
 But then her married life had been short, 
 and Sir Jonathan very ailing and infirm. 
 
 Such were his reflections, as, fatigued by 
 the magnitude of the conversational effort 
 already made, he once more relapsed into 
 silence. But he little knew the daring 
 aggressive nature of the woman with wdioni 
 he had to deal. Lady De Fochsey had 
 long since recognized him as one of those 
 men who must be " talked to." She found
 
 2U .A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 it up-liill work, but much practice had 
 rendered her equal to the occasion. 
 
 " A penny for your thoughts ! " she 
 exclaimed, after a prolonged pause, during 
 which she had been stealthily studying her 
 companion's face, and thinking how terribly 
 vapid and dull its owner was. He started 
 and turned red at being thus attacked. 
 
 " At that particular moment I was won- 
 dering whether you ever felt lonely," he 
 said simply. 
 
 She forgave him his stupidity, since she 
 had been occupying his brain. 
 
 " Sometimes," she said, putting on a 
 pensive air. " But why do you ask. Do 
 you ? " 
 
 " Frightfully, since poor dear Harry 
 died. I don't know that I can i^o on liviuir 
 by myself much longer. I begin to want a 
 companion very badly indeed." 
 
 Lady De Fochsey was an audacious little 
 person, and had the gift of saying the
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 215 
 
 boldest tliinofs in the most innocent and 
 artless of manners. 
 
 " If that is so. Lord Littelbrane, why on 
 earth do you not get married ? Everybody 
 says that you ought to." 
 
 " Do they ? " he inquired, flushing 
 crimson. 
 
 " Yes, everybody. Is there no one 
 you like well enough to make your 
 wife ? " 
 
 " Yes," he said slowly. " I— I— think- 
 there — is." 
 
 " Ah ! I thought so. And pray, who 
 may the lucky lady be ? " 
 
 Something in the expression of his coun- 
 tenance made her heart palpitate. A 
 strange thought flashed through her mind. 
 A thought full of gratified vanity, but 
 without one particle of sentiment in its 
 composition. 
 
 He turned quite pale, opened his lips as 
 if to say something, when alas ! alas ! a
 
 21 G A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 loud tallv-ho came rinL^inj]^ t]irou<^h the 
 air. 
 
 In another moment they were engulfed 
 by a galloping crowd, and borne far apart. 
 
 " Was there ever anything so pro- 
 voking ? " said Lady De Fochsey to herself. 
 " I do believe he meant to propose. And 
 oh, what fun it would have been, and what 
 a feather in my cap ! " 
 
 As for Lord Littelbrane, the perspiration 
 had gathered in great beads upon his noble 
 brow. He wiped it hastily away, and 
 uttered a sis^li which seemed torn from the 
 very depths of his being. 
 
 " By Jove ! " he muttered, " making love 
 is awful work, worse even than I thought. 
 It would have been all over with me in 
 another minute. I was going ahead so 
 deuced fast." Then he shook liis head, 
 and murmured disapprovingly : " Too fast 
 — too fast by a great deal. It's just as 
 well that fox went away when he did.
 
 LOVE BY SELECTION. 217 
 
 Ko"w I can take another week or two to 
 make up my mind, and think the matter 
 
 over." 
 
 He had no doubts about Lady De 
 Fochsey. It never occurred to him to 
 imagine that if he condescended to ask, she 
 ■was not prepared to accept with pleasure. 
 

 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 HE won't face WATEl^ 
 
 Although it was now nearly three o'clock, 
 and sportsmen had already indulged in one 
 good gallop, it had by no means abated 
 their keenness. After the lonn- summer's 
 inactivity, they were full of ardour, which 
 even the blindness of the country could not 
 keep in check. 
 
 They were just as eager to pursue this 
 second fox as they had been to follow the 
 first, and he took them alon^ at a verv fair 
 pace ; though after the first ten minutes 
 were over he showed himself in his true 
 colours, and turned out a faint-hearted, 
 twisty brute. This fact, however, did not 
 in the least detract from Bob's pleasure.
 
 HE WON'T PACE WATER. 219 
 
 He was far too mucli of a novice at the 
 game to care whether hounds ran straight, 
 or round and round in a rino^. It was all 
 the same to him, as long as they kept 
 moving on, and he could get plenty of 
 jumping. The jumping, indeed, constituted 
 his chief delis^ht. He thou^jht far more of 
 it than of fox and hounds. They were 
 quite subordinate considerations, as com- 
 pared with the glorious and intoxicating 
 sensation of feeling yourself up in the air 
 and never knowing in exactly what fashion 
 you would descend to the earth. There 
 was an element of damper in the whole 
 business which gave it a special charm. 
 One moment your heart was in your 
 mouth ; the next, words failed to express 
 the sudden elation which took possession 
 of every faculty, and made the pulses thrill 
 with ecstasy. But The Swell and his rider 
 were no longer so exactly of the same 
 mind as they had been earlier in the day.
 
 220 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 That fastidious animal began to consider 
 that his powers had been quite sufficiently 
 exerted. He was too wise and old a hunter 
 to love jumping for jumping's sake. He 
 looked upon every unnecessary leap as an 
 indignity to his understanding, and grew 
 more and more sulky in consequence. 
 
 His late master had almost invariably 
 ridden him first horse, and sent him home 
 early. The cunning creature could not see 
 the fun of being kept out so long, and 
 hankered after his comforting warm mash 
 and good old oats. His buoyancy and 
 spirits departed. It was almost with a 
 feeling of resentment that he turned 
 his head away from home, and for the 
 second time joined in the chase. His ill- 
 humour soon became evident. He no 
 longer fenced as faultlessly as in the 
 morning. One or two places he negotiated 
 quite slovenly, crashing right in amongst 
 the thorns and binders with his hind-legs.
 
 HE WOxVT FACE WATEK. 221 
 
 So badly indeed did lie beliave, that Bob, 
 as he sailed down at a big hedge, newly 
 plashed, with a very blind ditch on the near 
 side, into which all the lopped-off twigs had 
 been cast, deemed it advisable to rouse him 
 up a little bit. The Swell resented the 
 process and the manner in which it was 
 done. He missed those subtle touches of 
 hand and heel to which he was accustomed. 
 His mouth was fine and very sensitive. 
 
 Bob gave it a job, and the horse im- 
 mediately tossed up his head, with the 
 result that he almost put both fore-feet into 
 the ditch, and only succeeded in getting 
 over with a desperate Hounder, which 
 landed him on his knees. 
 
 Crack, crack, rang an awful report in 
 Bob's ears as he was jerked violentl}^" 
 forwards, and then nearly as violently 
 back, whilst The Swell righted himself, 
 grunting with terror and indignation. His 
 unhappy rider knew what had happened.
 
 222 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 He needed not to be told. The disaster 
 wliicli lie feared, with almost morbid fear, 
 had taken place at last. He glanced 
 hurriedly at his nether limbs. 
 
 Yes, there they were ! Those two 
 abominable elastic straps, dangling down 
 about a quarter of a yard in length, from 
 the hem of his trousers. One of them liad 
 even a little square bit of cloth still 
 sticking to it, which proved that the wrench 
 must have been considerable. An unutter- 
 able horror seized him. A kind of sinkinix 
 shame. And yet he did not realize the full 
 extent of his misfortunes until he had 
 galloped half-way across a fifty-acre field. 
 
 Then he began to feel odious and horrible 
 sensations of discomfort. Thev seemed to 
 come creeping slowly, slowly upward and 
 to run all along his spine. '\\'arm as he 
 was, a shudder passed through his frame. 
 He tried not to look downwnrds, but a 
 species of fascination forced him to do so.
 
 HE WONT FACE WATER. 223 
 
 Unliappy young man ! The man who 
 had fancied himself superior to clothes, and 
 who affected to despise boots and breeches. 
 What did he see, you ask ? 
 
 He saw two inches of white leg — dis- 
 gustingly white, that made the matter so 
 much worse — fully exposed to public 
 vision ; whilst his stockinofs had wrio^o^led 
 themselves into the heels of his boots, and 
 his trousers were up to his knees. Pitiable 
 spectacle ! With the agony of desperation, 
 he tried to pull the one up and the other 
 down. It afforded only temporary relief. 
 The wretched things would not stop in their 
 place. And all this time hounds were 
 running well, even if not at a furious pace. 
 Had there been a gate close by he would 
 have hailed it with joy, and hidden his 
 diminished head amoni^st the roadsters. 
 But there was none. For once Stiff- 
 shire failed to supply the desired com- 
 modity. He must go on riding, and he
 
 224 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 must go on jumping, whether he liked it 
 or not. 
 
 Overwhelmed with confusion, all of a 
 sudden he heard a loud guffaw. Turning 
 sharply round in the saddle, he perceived, 
 carefully crawling through a handy gap, no 
 less a person than his old antagonist, 
 General Prosieboy. That man seemed to 
 have a knack of turning up on every 
 occasion, just when he was least wanted. 
 At the present moment he was evidently 
 gloating over Bob's discomfiture. His fat 
 old sides literally shook with laughter, 
 whilst his face assumed a deeper and more 
 purple hue than its wont. Perhaps Bob 
 was unreasonable ; but the sight of the 
 old gentleman simply maddened him. It 
 seemed to set every nerve quivering and 
 throbbing, and added a thousand times to 
 his distress. He would have given a 
 hundred pounds at that moment to have 
 been able to punch General Prosieboy 's
 
 HE WO^N'T FACE WATER. 225 
 
 head. There was a murderous instinct 
 within him, which, if not quelled, might 
 lead to terrible results. 
 
 Clapping spurs into The Swell he fled 
 precipitately, as the only way of escaping 
 from his tormentor. 
 
 But whither ? 
 
 He did not think — he did not care, so 
 long as he was somewhere near the hounds, 
 and away from the rest of the field. 
 
 For five whole minutes he rode like a 
 madman ; cramming his horse at all sorts 
 of break-neck places, now crashing into a 
 bull-finch, anon scrambling over fences, 
 again smashing recklessly through timber. 
 The Swell had never been so utterly amazed 
 and disf^usted in the whole course of his 
 
 o 
 
 career. His legs were a pincushion. They 
 were stuck full of thorns, his sides were 
 dark with crimson gore, and a long red 
 scratch disfigured the stifle of his near hind 
 leg. To look at him, he might have been 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 226 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 a miserable hireling:, whose rider was bent 
 on having his two guineas' worth to the 
 very last farthing. 
 
 Presently Bob grew calmer. For a 
 hasty backward glance had shown him 
 that not a soul was followini]^ in his foot- 
 steps. All he wanted was to get away 
 from the crowd, and to escape their gibes 
 and jeers. 
 
 But before long, his thoughts took a 
 different turn. He began to imagine that 
 he was entirely alone with hounds. It 
 never struck him to look to the rig^ht or to 
 the left. His eyes were fixed on the light 
 vanishing; sterns ahead. Even the recollec- 
 tion of those two white legs faded from his 
 mind, erased by the imaginary glories of his 
 position. Neither was excitement wanting. 
 For none can be greater than that of riding 
 a well-nigh beaten horse at a succession of 
 big fences, and counting surely on a fall at 
 each one. A man's courage is severely
 
 HE WON'T FACE WATER. 22 T 
 
 tested then — more perhaps than at any- 
 other time. 
 
 With all his good qualities, The Swell 
 was not a bond fide stayer. 
 
 He could live through a really fast run, 
 first thing in the morning when he came 
 out fresh and well, but although it might 
 take some time to discover the fact, he was 
 a cur at heart. For if he once got ever so 
 little pumped, he never came again that 
 day. 
 
 The morning gallop had stretched his 
 girths quite as much as he deemed fit. 
 After five and thirty to forty minutes, a 
 twenty-pound screw would have carried a 
 man almost as well to hounds for the 
 remainder of the afternoon. 
 
 Besides which natural idiosyncrasies, he 
 had not been out hunting this season and 
 was a little short of condition, like most 
 gentlemen's horses early in November. 
 Bob, however, was not sufficiently ex- 
 
 15*
 
 228 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 perienced to take tliese things into consider- 
 ation. He had a good deal to learn yet, 
 before becoming a finished cross-country 
 performer. The number of jumps you have 
 jumped, does not constitute the sole glory 
 of fox-hunting, as before long he was 
 destined to discover. Wise is he, who, 
 nursing his horse, looks upon leaping 
 simply as a means to an end. 
 
 All of a sudden, straight in front of him, 
 Bob saw the gleam of water peeping coldly 
 out from amongst a fringe of low, stunted 
 willows. As he did so, Matthews' words 
 recurred to him : " He has but one fault, 
 sir. He won't face water." 
 
 But he — Bob — was in that state of sur- 
 excitation, when he flattered himself that a 
 really resolute person on The Swell's back was 
 bound to make all the dilTerence. Because 
 a horse refused to look at a brook with one 
 man, he might be persuaded or forced to 
 have it with another. Anyhow, he would
 
 5 i 
 
 HE WON'T FACE WATER. 229 
 
 not show the white feather, even although 
 he believed there was no one to see what 
 he was about. But his own self-respect 
 shrank from the idea of " funking 
 Physical cowardice inspired him with a 
 supreme contempt. As for the hounds — 
 well, he forgot to notice whether they had 
 actually crossed the brook or not. He 
 thought they were going to, and that was 
 enough. He never observed how old True- 
 tongue paused on the very brink, and then 
 feathered along the side. Instead of closely 
 watching her movements, he caught his 
 horse by the head, and drove him at the 
 water, just as hard as ever he could. 
 
 To his surprise, he found on approaching 
 the brook, that it was bigger than he 
 suspected. Should that alter his determina- 
 tion ? Certainly not. 
 
 He raised his whip hand. The Swell 
 fswerved away from it ; and then — oh, 
 horror I he felt him begin to collapse under
 
 230 A CEACK COU>'Ty. 
 
 liim. He dug the spurs into the poor 
 beast's sides and kept him as straight as he 
 could. He held him in such an iron grasp 
 that he thought the horse was bound to 
 make a bid for it. Xot he ! 
 
 In the very last stride, The Swell stopped 
 dead short, stretched out his neck, lowered 
 his head and Grazed in mute obstinacy at the 
 dark depths beneath him. He knew what 
 they felt like. He had tried them once, 
 lonsf ajT^o in his early youth, and had made 
 a mental resolve never, by any chance, to 
 renew their acquaintance. Some might 
 like cold water. He did not approve of it. 
 The dry system appeared to him to possess 
 insuperable advantages. And Bob ? the 
 rash youth who thoug^ht his will was 
 stronger than that of the animal he 
 bestrode, and who did not know that a 
 horse, when he is in earnest, can defy any 
 man ever born ! Well, Bob simply flew 
 over his head, like an arrow shot from a
 
 HE WON'T FACE WATER. 231 
 
 bow, and descended plump into the midst 
 of the stream. It was awfully deep ! He 
 went right down to the bottom, rolled about 
 in the soft mud, and imbibed more water 
 than he had ever done before or hoped to 
 do again. Gasping and spluttering, he 
 rose to the surface, making frantic endea- 
 vours to regain his footing. Eoars of 
 laughter greeted his reappearance — real, 
 unfeigned, hearty laughter. 
 
 It seemed to him, in that never-to-be- 
 forgotten moment, which crowned all his 
 previous mishaps, as if the whole of the 
 Morbey Anstead Field were congregated 
 on the banks of this fatal brook, and were 
 unanimous in regarding his involuntary 
 immersion as a most excellent joke. If he 
 could have felt any sensations of heat, he 
 would have grown hot with indignation. 
 Even The Swell turned his full blue eye 
 upon him with an air of amiable triumph, 
 which seemed to say : " Ah ! you would
 
 232 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 have done much better to have taken my 
 advice." 
 
 It was a terrible thinf]^, having? to scramble 
 out on to terra Jirma before all those 
 laughing faces. Nobody appeared to 
 possess the least instinct of pit}'. Even 
 Lady De Fochsey, his quondam ally, was 
 smiling broadly and was evidently greatly 
 amused. 
 
 Poor Bob stood and shook himself like a 
 Newfoundland dog. The water poured 
 from his ears and saturated clothes. The 
 glory of the day had departed. The 
 sky had clouded over, a cold wind arose 
 which whistled across the uplands. lie 
 felt chilled to the bone. And then, all at 
 once, a grufT voice from amongst the 
 crowd said : 
 
 " I say, young fellow, how are the legs ? 
 They look whiter than ever after getting 
 such a real good washing. It will save 
 your soap, anyway."
 
 HE WONT FACE WATER. 233 
 
 This sally was received witli much 
 tittering and applause. 
 
 Bob could have sworn the voice belonged 
 to General Prosieboy, but he failed to 
 perceive that gentleman's whereabouts. 
 Perhaps it was lucky for his grey hairs. 
 It is the last straw which breaks the 
 camel's back. 
 
 Bob had endured a good deal, on this 
 memorable day, from the hands of the 
 Mutual Adorationites ! He now felt as if 
 he could endure no more. His wet clothes 
 clung heavily about him and weighed like 
 a ton. Without saying a word he 
 clambered laboriously up into the saddle, 
 and rode straight off in the direction of 
 home. Any temporary feeling of elation 
 had been destroyed by his cold bath. A 
 more crestfallen, dejected and miserable 
 young man, it would have been impossible 
 to find in all Her Majesty's possessions. 
 Just when he was particularly anxious to
 
 234 A CEACK COU^'TY 
 
 make a favourable dehut in the hunting 
 field, he had contrived to tumble off and 
 provide amusement for every one present. 
 The tears almost started to his eyes. He 
 felt so bitterly humiliated. Swearing was 
 not a habit he greatly approved of, but 
 oh ! how he swore at those " confounded " 
 straps, which, rightly or wrongly, he 
 looked upon as the chief cause of his 
 disasters.
 
 ClIAPTEE XV. 
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HUNTING. 
 
 As soon as lie succeeded in reaching^ the 
 first road, Bob set off at a swinging trot. 
 His teeth were chattering, and his limbs 
 frozen. To make matters worse the wind 
 increased, till it seemed to blow through 
 his clothes as if they were paper, and 
 chilled the very marrow in his bones. 
 Under these circumstances, it was perhaps 
 excusable that he displayed but little regard 
 for The Swell's fore-legs, and went pounding 
 along at a tremendous pace. After he had 
 gone about a couple of miles, he saw a poor 
 old labourer encrafred in the tedious task 
 of breaking stones by the road-side. 
 
 Then for the first time it occurred to 
 him, that for aught he knew, he might be
 
 236 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 going Tvrong, since he was by no means 
 sure of the way. Therefore, checking his 
 tired horse, he asked : " Is this right for 
 Straighten! Court, my man ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, quite right, sir," came the 
 reply. " Keep straight on till you pass 
 Killerton village, then turn sharp to the 
 right, through a bridle-gate, that takes you 
 across the fields almost into Straight em. 
 It'ull save you a couple of miles if not 
 more." 
 
 " But how am I to find the bridle-gate ?" 
 inquired Bob, intent on making sure of 
 his directions. 
 
 "You can't possibly mistake it, sir, 
 because there's a sign-post within five 
 yards." 
 
 Moved to compassion by the feeble old 
 man's shrunken frame, hollow cheeks and 
 half-starved appearance. Bob fumbled in 
 his waistcoat pocket until he found a 
 shilling.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HUNTING. 237 
 
 " Thank you," he said kindly. " Tliere 
 — take this. I have no doubt that it will 
 do you a great deal more good than it will 
 me." 
 
 The recipient's blessings followed him as 
 he rode away, and for a few minutes he 
 reflected gravely on the miserable condition 
 of an honest man like the one he had just 
 left, when age and infirmity combined to 
 render the struggle against poverty more 
 and more difficult. What could life mean 
 to him ? Only a weary, weary warring 
 against cold and wind and rain ; against 
 hunger and fatigue ; without amusement, 
 without pleasure ; without comfort of any 
 sort. A dreary existence at best, but 
 rendered a thousand times more so by 
 failing health, and the pains of a poor, 
 worn-out old body. The body ! Ah ! 
 what a drag and torment it was to human 
 beings ! If only they could rise above it ! 
 And yet even a simple toothache could
 
 238 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 dethrone the greatest genius from its seat. 
 Brain, psychic force : of what did they 
 avail, when Pain could lay them in the 
 dust so easily and ride triumphant over 
 them ? Their very defeat only served to 
 prove the weakness and mortality of man. 
 
 But Bob's meditations were cut short by 
 a fresh calamity. The road had been 
 newly mended and was covered with 
 stones. The Swell toed them with the 
 carelessness of a weary animal. Suddenly 
 he trod on a loose flint, and immediately 
 afterwards went dead lame. So lame 
 indeed that trottinijf was out of the 
 question. It was as much as he could do 
 to walk. 
 
 Bob's star was clearly not in the 
 ascendant to-day. He thought that he 
 had already reached the limits of his ill- 
 luck. He found there was still a mar^^in 
 which had not entered into his calculations. 
 Tbe Swell's ?-:mall ears now bobbed up and
 
 THE PLEASUEES OF HUNTING. 239 
 
 down with torturing irregularity. They 
 made him feel like a monster of cruelty. 
 
 Dismounting, he proceeded to examine 
 the poor beast's foot, but could perceive 
 nothing? to account for his sudden lameness. 
 In truth, it would have taken a pretty 
 powerful magnifying glass to have detected 
 that small, sharp piece of granite, which 
 having penetrated the frog, was causing 
 such exquisite agony. 
 
 Beino* now forced to travel at a foot's 
 pace, Bob considered it was warmer 
 walking than riding, besides he could not 
 help being sorry for the unhappy animal, 
 whose appearance had undergone such a 
 total transformation since he sallied forth 
 in the morning, champing at his bit, 
 arching his glossy neck and playfully 
 whisking his tail. There was not a 
 symptom of light-heartedness left now. 
 ' The unfortunate Swell no longer merited 
 he name. Anything less like an equine
 
 240 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 dandy could not have ?jeen imagined. His 
 sleek bay coat Tvas hard and white with 
 dry perspiration, his sides were disfigured 
 by spur marks, his legs incrusted with mud ; 
 whilst his eye wore a dull, glazy look, 
 which told of physical discomfort. If to 
 him had been given the gift of speech, he 
 would probably have said : " My master 
 may be ' plucky,' but never let me see him 
 again — never let me have anything more to 
 do with him. He has ridden my tail off." 
 
 Bob trudged sturdily on, till at length 
 he reached Killerton villaf]fe, and the bridle- 
 gate beyond. Then, when once more a 
 vista of green fields refreshed his eyes, he 
 remounted, thinking that the probabilities 
 were The Swell would go less tender on the 
 soft, springy grass. 
 
 In this supposition he was correct, never- 
 theless it was a weary ride home, cold and 
 slow and miserable. The sort of ride which 
 eflectually obliterates any pleasant impres-
 
 THE PLEASUEES OF HUNi'ING. 241 
 
 sions left by the day's sport, and which 
 makes a man besfin to ask himself whether 
 fox-hunting repays the many disappoint- 
 ments and discomforts that must necessarily 
 come in its train. 
 
 It was a bad thing for Bob, on his very 
 first acquaintance with the noble pastime, 
 to have arrived at such a stage, but, as 
 before stated, physical misery soon makes 
 a diflerent creature of man, and quickly 
 subdues him. 
 
 Our hero followed the track as well as 
 he could, and his spirits slightly revived. 
 But after a time, the path disappeared, 
 swallowed up in a sea of grass, and then he 
 had to trust entirely to his bump of locality 
 — a bump which he did not possess in as 
 laro^e a de^^ree as mi^fht have been ex- 
 pected. 
 
 Besides, it is by no means an easy thing 
 to thread one's way through a series of 
 narrow gates, in an entirely new country. 
 VOL. 1. 17
 
 242 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 These huge uninhabited pastures, for which 
 StilTshire is celebrated all over the huntinc^ 
 world, and which constitute its glory and 
 its renown, are desolate in the extreme. 
 You may go for miles and miles without 
 meeting anything but herds of grazing 
 cattle, woolly sheep, and an occasional 
 rough young colt. The cloud-shadows 
 race across these vast stretches of undu- 
 lating verdure, and the wind sweeps over 
 them at its icy will. There are scarcely 
 any trees to break its hirj. Only a few 
 isolated specimens in the hedgerows, which 
 rear their gaunt, stunted arms to the dull 
 sky, as if imploring that their lives may be 
 i^ranted them. Here and there a cjreat 
 black bullfinch, situated on the summit of 
 some rising hill, lies like a long dark wall 
 against the grey horizon. A magpie flits 
 across the path. Intersected lines of fences 
 break up the green, rendering it yet more 
 vivid — and this is StifTshire. Lonelv, silent,
 
 THE PLEASUEES OF HUNTING 243 
 
 sullen, undecked by the beauties of Nature, 
 3^et witlial not destitute of a certain 
 grandeur, born of lier vastness and her 
 desolation. A solitary country, that after 
 a time possesses a kind of weird charm for 
 the solitary soul that walks the earth alone. 
 Bob looked about him. Far as eye could 
 reach, not a human habitation was within 
 vision. He began to experience fresh mis- 
 givings as to the route. Sometimes the 
 fields were so large that they had two or 
 three gates, and then he was just obliged 
 to guess at the most likely one. But he 
 might have gone wrong a dozen times over, 
 and as the afternoon advanced, would have 
 been many degrees easier in his mind, could 
 he but have reached a road. Many and 
 many a time did he regret having left one. 
 He would not have grudged the greater 
 distance, for the sense of extra security 
 conferred. Already it seemed to him as if 
 he had been hours on his way.
 
 244 A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 All of a sudden, just when lie was set- 
 tling down into a state of melancholy resig- 
 nation, he perceived a brand new gate, 
 painted white, about fifty yards ahead. 
 And through the bars of this gate, he saw 
 the moist road glimmering, as the young 
 crescent moon, high up aloft, reflected her 
 pallid face in a little pool of water. Joy- 
 fully he hastened his steps, whilst even The 
 Swell pricked his ears, and seemed to know 
 he was nearini^ home. 
 
 Bob stretched out his arm, and tried to 
 lift up the latch with the crook of his 
 hunting crop. It was secured by some 
 new-fangled process which he did not 
 understand, and yielded not an inch. He 
 made another essav witli the same result, 
 another and yet another. Then The Swell 
 grew impatient, and pushed heavily against 
 the barrier witli his stroma chest. Findini]f 
 it still closed, he lurched awav from it in 
 distrust, as much as to sav, " It is for vou
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HUNTING. 245 
 
 to open this, not me. I've done my best, 
 now you do yours." 
 
 Bob did all lie could to coax him up to 
 the gate again. He tried patting, he tried 
 speaking, he tried spurring. But the horse 
 refused with all the obstinacy of which 
 brute nature is capable. In little, as in 
 big things, The Swell would try once, but 
 never more often. He was like some men 
 and many women — easily disheartened by 
 failure, and let failure conquer liim^ instead 
 of he conquering failure. 
 
 This delay proved most vexatious. For 
 when you have been immersed in a brook, 
 on a cold November afternoon, every 
 minute appears of consequence. Your 
 whole soul hankers after warmth, and a 
 dry change of clothes. There was nothing 
 for it, however, but to get off. Bob 
 did so, and throwing the reins over his 
 bridle arm, proceeded to ascertain why 
 this particular gate was unlike all other
 
 2ir, A CEACK COUNTY. 
 
 gates, and refused to allow itself to be 
 opened. 
 
 But heaving, pushing, lifting — all proved 
 useless. At the end of five minutes he was 
 in despair. Finally he put his shoulder to 
 the refractory bars, and tried to break 
 them down by main force. He was a 
 strcng, athletic young fellow, six feet in 
 height, and broad of chest, with muscles 
 developed by the healthy open-air life he 
 had led. But he was just as powerless 
 af]^ainst those stronc^ white timbers as a 
 child of six. He could not even bend 
 them, although he put forth all his 
 streni^th, and his face turned scarlet with 
 exertion. 
 
 A heavy sigh escaped from him. It 
 acknowledged his defeat. Totally discon- 
 certed, he told himself that he must retrace 
 his footsteps and seek some fresh means of 
 enter] nu^ the road. He clanced at the 
 fence which ran on either side of the gate.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HUNTINa. 247 
 
 But it was perfectly unjumpable, and even 
 had it been otherwise, he doubted very 
 much whether The Swell, in his present 
 state, could have made an effort. He was 
 at his wit's end. And then, all at once 
 hope surged up into his heart. 
 
 He heard a noise, the clatter of hoofs 
 approaching on the hard macadam. Thank 
 goodness ! help was at hand. The people 
 of the country would surely understand 
 how these mysterious gates opened. And 
 even if the worst came to the worst, with 
 the aid of another good, strong man, he 
 felt confident that he could break the 
 wretched thing down. It would be easy 
 to pay for the damages afterwards, but 
 home, sweet home, was the chief considera- 
 tion just at present. 
 
 Bob's disappointment was therefore ex- 
 treme, when a sharp turn in the road 
 revealed a young lad}-, riding a smart dun 
 cob, about fourteen hands high.
 
 248 A CRACK COUNTY. 
 
 Their eyes met, and she seemed imme- 
 diately to guess the cause of his distress. 
 She blushed a little, hesitated for a 
 moment, and then pulled the dun up to a 
 stand. 
 
 " I see you are in difficulties," she said, 
 in a voice whose frank, straightforward 
 tones impressed him favourably. " Will 
 you allow me to help you P " 
 
 In his amazement at this slim, slip of a 
 girl imagining that she could open a gate 
 which had defied all his own energies. Bob 
 did a very rude thing. 
 
 He made no answer, but simply stood 
 still, and stared at the fair Samaritan who 
 thus kindly volunteered to assist him. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 ^
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 084215224