passed his opinion on a would-be sportsman until he saw him in the
hunting field. In his opinion it took something more than a pink coat to
make a hunting man, so he endeavored to collect around him, in New
Jersey, a few of as hard riders as ever followed hounds.

The Essex Hunt had become famous for its long runs, and as few men not
born to the saddle cared to risk their necks over the rolling country
about Morristown, this hunt was decidedly unpopular with the
drawing-room sportsmen. However, if the field was small at the meet, it
diminished little at the finish. For years Harry Osgood had been M. F.
M. of the Essex Hunt, and the pack could not have been in better hands,
as he had a capital huntsman of long experience with the Quorn Hunt, and
he devoted his own time, during the hunting season, entirely to the
sport. Osgood had this peculiarity, however, he must have sport all the
year round; so he was as much at home on the box seat, or at the
tiller, as in the saddle. There is a popular impression that a man
cannot be both a horseman and a sailor, but Harry Osgood had often
refuted it. In the summer months, when there was no hunting, and it was
too hot for driving, he went to sea, and his schooner, "Persephone," was
one of the crack flyers of the N. Y. Y. C. fleet, while her owner was a
qualified navigator who had taken an English Board of Trade yachtsman's
certificate.

It is, therefore, not surprising that Helen Osgood entered little into
her husband's life, for, except when frost was in the ground, he had no
time to devote to his wife. Helen, however, heartily approved of his
neglect, and, except for the fact that he compelled her to reside so
much of the time in the country, was perfectly satisfied with her
husband. She always managed to have at least one amusing man in the
house who did not go in for hunting, and as she never interfered with
Harry's sport, theirs was a _menage_ where husband and wife were both
contented and amused. The world had been surprised at Harry Osgood's
marriage, but probably no one was more astonished than himself. A
country house, a rare day's sport, a good dinner, a cozy corner, a pair
of bewitching blue-black eyes, a hasty word, and his fate was sealed
before he had had time fully to realize the situation; but, having been
"landed," as he expressed it, he made up his mind to bear it like a man
and make the best of a hasty bargain. The marriage was, however, no
surprise to Helen. S