THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL 77 



strongly that the rest of the pack no longer 

 stray from the stream ; then, as the scent im- 

 proves under the shade of some dark, over- 

 hanging alder, here and there a hound chimes 

 in and backs him up ; till at length, attracted 

 by the eager and persistent mark of their pilot, 

 tearing at the otter's door and announcing him 

 "at home," one and all unite in a wild chorus; 

 and thus by degrees, after a few such lessons, 

 followed bv an occasional find and kill, Russell 

 has the satisfaction of seeing the whole lot 

 changed into a working and useful pack of 

 otter-hounds. 



Hitherto, Russell had himself only seen one 

 otter killed, and that was by Mr. Cooke, of 

 Uplowman, near Tiverton ; but, after Racer 

 became his property, he scored the death of 

 thirty-five right off the reel ; a boon for which 

 every son of Zebedee in that county must have 

 been duly grateful. 



During the six vears he kept these otter- 

 hounds in South Molton, none of which were 

 ever kennelled, but found each a welcome home 

 before the fire of an inhabitant, twenty couple 

 at least passed through his hands, not one of 

 which could ever be induced to touch the scent 

 of an otter. 



It is quite clear, however, that Russell did 

 not at first know what age and experience after- 

 wards taught him, namely, that the scent of the 



