o ride in the Row,
or for country exercise, but very few gentlemen of moderate means can
afford to keep hunters for the ladies of their families as well as for
themselves, although, in fiction, this is freely done. If a lady has one
good hunter of her own, she may expect two days' hunting a week,
providing the country is not too stiff, and the meets are fairly
convenient. Occasionally, a mount may be obtained from a good-natured
friend, whose stud is larger than his requirements; but this is not to
be depended upon in every-day life, and popular ladies and first-rate
riders are more in the way of receiving these attentions than the
general run of ladies.

As regards the presence of young ladies in the hunting-field, there are
two opinions respecting its advisability, apart from the question of
whether it is or is not a feminine pursuit. The long ride home in the
November and December twilight, in the company of some member of the
hunt, who has become the young lady's cavalier for the time being, is
not to the taste of many parents; chaperonage must of necessity be
greatly dispensed with in the hunting-field, and this is an objection
which many fathers advance against their daughters hunting.

Some husbands entertain equally strict views on this head, and are of
opinion that the boldest rider and the best lead to follow in the
field is not always the guest they would most desire to see at their
own firesides.

* * * * *

=Hunt-Breakfasts.=--A lady should not go to a hunt-breakfast at the
house of a country gentleman if unacquainted with him, or some member of
his family, unless asked to do so by a mutual acquaintance. All
gentlemen riding to hounds, whether strangers to the host or not, have
the privilege of entering any house where a hunt-breakfast is given and
accepting the hospitality offered. The breakfast, which is in reality a
cold collation, with the addition of wine, liqueurs, ale, etc., is
usually laid out in the dining-room, and no ceremony whatever is
observed; the gentlemen come and go as they please.

The mistress of the house should either be present at a hunt-breakfast
and receive the ladies who arrive in the hall or dining-room, or she
should receive them in the drawing-room, where refreshments should be
brought to them.

When a hostess intends riding to hounds, she is often mounted before her
neighbours arrive, in which case she invites them to enter the house for
r