Hoof Beats 



watched from the train; well, it made him feel a 

 little weak in the knees. 



Then all of a sudden the unexpected happened. 

 One young hound that had wandered off into a 

 field unbeknownst to the Master had found some- 

 thing there, for his voice was raised joyfully to the 

 skies. In an instant the Master was busily alert 

 blowing his horn and shouting, but to no avail, the 

 pack went over and under the fence, kaleidoscopic 

 flashes of white and brown. 



Down the road the Master galloped with every- 

 one following after. Only Striving and the groom 

 with the second horse were left. The groom 

 fidgeted and glared at Striving; he wanted to be 

 off, but he had had his orders. Striving looked at 

 his watch and then at the railroad station, and 

 thought of the Surrogate Court of Appeals. The 

 next instant he had pulled the groom out of the 

 saddle and was galloping down the road. How 

 it all came back to him after so many years. The 

 big thoroughbred mare with her long rangy gallop 

 set him in a thrill of expectancy to see what she 

 could do at a fence. In the distance he saw the 

 hounds had struck a line across country in the 

 direction from which his train had come. Soon 

 he caught the others up and they all jammed at a 

 gate, the Master swearing wildly, but nobody 

 minded or heard. Then with a rush they were 

 72 



