A MERRY CHASE. 157 



The hounds sprang forward, howling as if they were 

 mad, and in the track which they forced through the 

 bushes glided the outrider, just in time to snatch from 

 their claws and teeth a second cat, of smaller size than 

 the first, but of a brilliantly-coloured skin, marked by 

 fantastic designs. 



Still, even this was not enough to satisfy us ; so it was 

 decided that we should press forward, without regarding 

 the difficulties of the route. 



" Let us start, gentlemen," cried the doctor, " I answer 

 for the life, and still more for the health, of everybody. 

 Hallo ! Here are our dogs giving tongue again ! Bravo ! 

 m dogs, bravo ! " 



And we spurred our horses into a smart trot, over a 

 drier and more open ground a kind of wild English 

 garden, half wood, half greensward while the outrider 

 indicated the various phases of the hunt in his own pecu- 

 liar manner : " There you go ! Good ! On with you, 

 Bello ! Here you are, Annabella ! Ah, they keep to 

 the right ! Good, now they return this way ! Take 

 carey of yourselves, gentlemen ! How they bark I- 

 Steady ! Close in ! Good ! Find him ! Good ! 

 There he is ! " 



During the deliverance of this soliloquy, the pack con- 

 tinued their advance, followed by all the hunters, and by 

 the whipper-in himself, who ran as quickly as we trotted, 

 shouting all the time. In this manner we arrived at u 

 very thick coppice, where the scent was so fresh that the 

 dogs did not hesitate a single moment. 



Mr. Potter cried out to us, in his unparalleled ardour 

 for this certainly attractive sport, 



" Take care, my friends ; don't throw the dogs out ; 



