LORD LONSDALE 153 



" The poor old customer, weary and tired, 

 heard with satisfaction the cry of hounds stop at 

 last, and, stretching his aching hmbs beneath the 

 friendly shelter of a haystack, lay quietly down 

 until darkness should make travelling safe. Then, 

 when the last shepherd had gone home to his 

 supper, and the countryside had sunk into the 

 peaceful stillness of night, our friend rose from his 

 hiding-place and prepared to start on his journey 

 back. For the first few minutes his stiffened 

 joints would hardly bear the weight of the body, 

 then the muscles would relax and gradually the 

 condition from years of activity would assert itself, 

 so that he could trot gently on his way. He took 

 things very quietly, as he had many hours of dark- 

 ness before him. Those cornstacks on the top of 

 the hill supplied him with a light supper in the 

 shape of a fat brown rat who had ventured too far 

 away from home ; this, washed down by a hearty 

 drink at the adjoining pond, gave him strength 

 to pursue his journey. Arriving at Launde Park 

 Wood some time about midnight, he sought out 

 a dry patch of grass, and after licking himself 

 clean, prepared to settle down for a good long 

 sleep. The rat, however, had only partially 

 satisfied his hunger ; but he was too tired to hunt 

 for food himself. He then bethought him of a 

 vixen whom he had visited in this wood last year, 

 and to whom he had paid marked attention. 

 Sitting down on his haunches, he opened his mouth 

 and commenced a series of blood-curdling howls, 

 which were eventually answered in the far distance 

 of the wood by shrill yap yaps. The cries came 

 nearer, and at last the vixen appeared, which 



