semen engage in hunting the poor brute down? Bad
horseman as I am, I should not mind taking part in a cavalry
charge; but hunting is not at all to my taste."

"You like shooting, Captain Bullen?"

"I like shooting, when there is something to be shot; in the first
place, a dangerous animal, and in the second, an animal that is
able to show fight. I have several times taken part in tiger hunts,
and felt myself justified in doing so, because the animals had made
themselves a scourge to unarmed villagers."

"I am afraid that you are a sort of Don Quixote," the girl laughed.

"Not quite that, Miss Merton; though I own I admire the good
knight, greatly. We are going to move off, now, to the covert that
has to be drawn; and I know I shall shock you, when I say that I
sincerely hope that nothing will be found there."

The whole party then moved off, and the hounds were put into a
covert. Five minutes later, a whimper was heard. It soon spread
into a chorus, and then a fox dashed out from the opposite side;
followed, in a couple of minutes, by the whole pack.

"Well, that is fun, is it not, Captain Bullen?" said a girl, to
whom he was talking, in one of the carriages.

"It is a pretty sight," he said, "and if the fox always got away, I
should like it. As it is, I say honestly that I don't."

The meet now broke up, and the carriages dispersed. Hallett and
Lisle accepted an invitation to lunch with the ladies to whom they
were talking. Two hours later, Lisle was on the point of leaving,
when a groom rode up at full speed.

"Is Captain Bullen here?" he asked.

With a presentiment of evil, Lisle went out.

"The colonel has had a bad accident, sir. He was brought in, half
an hour ago, by the servants. I understand that he asked for you;
and three of us at once rode off, in different directions, to find
you."

Lisle called Hallett and, in five minutes, they were mounted and
dashed off. As they entered the house, they were met by the
surgeon.

"Is he badly hurt'?" Lisle asked, anxiously.

"I fear that he is hurt to death, Captain Bullen. His horse slipped
as it was taking a fence, and fell on the top of him. He has
suffered severe internal injuries, and I greatly fear that there is
not the least hope for him."

"Is he conscious?" Lisle asked, with deep emotion.

"Yes, he is conscious, and I believe he understands that his case
is hopeless. He has asked for you, several times, since he was
brought in; so you had be