me
in.

"Help yourself," he said. "Where's Dick?"

"I arranged to pick him up at the cross-roads, but he wasn't there,"
Mordaunt replied. "Dick's a careless fellow and I didn't want to be
late."

He filled a glass and when he sat down one of the others remarked:
"Alan Raine has gone and it is our melancholy duty to fill his post.
This will not be easy; Alan was a keen sportsman and a man of tact. He
commanded the farmers' respect and had the interest of the hunt at
heart. For all that, the hunt is a useful institution and must be kept
up. Fish are getting scarce; modern field drainage sends down the
water in sudden floods and when, between times, the rivers run low the
trout and salmon are the otter's easy prey. It is our duty to preserve
the fisheries, and help, as far as we are able, a bracing English
sport."

He drained his glass while the others signed approval. Hodson had
cleared the ground neatly and the business could begin.

"Our choice is somewhat limited," said another. "I think we have all
found it a drawback to keep the hounds near the hills, since the meets
are generally held by the deep water in the flat holms. In fact, one
feels the hounds ought to go to Dryholm or Langrigg."

Mordaunt quietly lighted a cigarette and then replied: "I'm afraid you
must rule out Dryholm. Bernard declares he is too old to take the
hounds."

"But what about yourself?"

"I am too poor," said Mordaunt, smiling.

The others hesitated. They were cautious and did not want to venture
on dangerous ground, but there was something to be said, and Herries,
the youngest man, remarked: "After all, an offer of the hounds is a
compliment and its acceptance, to some extent, a public duty. If this
view were put before Bernard Dearham, some arrangement could perhaps be
made."

"You mean I might fill the post and Bernard provide the money?"
Mordaunt suggested. "Bernard, however, does not seem to see the
advantage of the plan."

Herries gave him a keen glance. Mordaunt's face was calm; but the
other imagined he had felt some disappointment.

"Then we must fall back on Langrigg. The new owner is your relation.
What do you think about our asking him?"

"I imagine you couldn't find a better site for the kennels," Mordaunt
replied. "Langrigg is near the deep water where the big fish lie and
you can generally find an otter----"

He stopped, and Herries said, "Yes, of course! But this is not
altogether what we me