A SUPREME EFFORT 151 



out he came from the drift with a long leap, the 

 snow on his back shooting forward between his 

 ears as his fore feet struck the ground. He 

 bounded up the slope, and had gone perhaps a 

 score yards when the foxes emerged, pressing 

 after him at their best pace. 



The struggle with the drift had told more on 

 the hare than on them. Between the drift and 

 Caer Bran, where he passed close to the spot on 

 which months before he had sat dreaming of 

 the life before him, he actually lost ground, yet, 

 though seemingly doomed, on, on he sped ; nay, 

 more, he even began to gather his strength for 

 a supreme effort to shake off his pursuers. The 

 wood on the Beacon was the place he chose for it. 

 The moment he felt the pine-needles under his 

 pads he breasted the hill with the speed of the 

 wind, and gained its granite crown several 

 seconds ahead. 



This spurt amazed the foxes, for they imagined 

 the hare to be failing, and they would have been 

 still more amazed had they known how he was 

 using his advantage. He did not keep on as 

 the foxes themselves would have done, for 

 that he tliought would only prolong the chase, 

 whereas his intention was to put an end to it. 

 So just over the ridge he leapt from rock to 

 rock and back again, then to the great slab that 



