THE HARE GAINS 149 



pursuers that a false step would have meant 

 death, and he knew it ; while the foxes, who knew 

 it too, were already anticipating a feast. For 

 thirty yards farther the ground beneath the 

 snow was so broken, so full of pitfalls, that the 

 chances of traversing it without stumbling were 

 small, but the hare got over it without mishap 

 and reached the ridge, along which he held 

 bravely, for the going there was good. His heart 

 sank, however, at sight of the snow in the hollow, 

 where only a rush or two showed above the 

 smooth surface. But those few rushes served 

 as a guide, a welcome guide, for they indicated 

 the position of the Liddens, towards which he at 

 once directed his steps. 



In this he was wise, because the ice afforded 

 reliable foothold to his hairy pads and enabled 

 him to plough his way through the snow at quite 

 a good pace, much faster indeed than the foxes, 

 though they kept along the furrow in his wake. 

 The lead thus gained he kept on increasing 

 as he ascended Bartinney, to the discomfiture 

 of his pursuers, who would have abandoned the 

 chase had not the big drift in the next hollow, 

 which they believed impassable, encouraged them 

 to keep going. On reaching it the hare's 

 courage failed him, and no wonder, for stretch- 

 ing from foothill to foothill, and completely fill- 



