90 THE FOX. 



a piece of woods in the valley below, another fox, the 

 third that day, broke from his cover in an old tree top, 

 under our very noses, and drew the fire of three of our 

 party, myself among the number, but thanks to the 

 interposing trees and limbs, escaped unhurt. Then 

 the dogs took up the trail and there was lively music 

 again. The fox steered through the fields direct for 

 the ridge where we had passed up in the morning. 

 We knew he would take a turn here and then point 

 for the mountain, and two of us with the hope of cut- 

 ting him off by the old orchard, through which we 

 were again assured he would surely pass, made a pre- 

 cipitous rush for that point. It was nearly half a 

 mile distant, most of the way up a steep side hill, and 

 if the fox took the circuit indicated he would proba- 

 bly be there in twelve or fifteen minutes. Running 

 up an angle of 45 seems quite easy work for a four- 

 footed beast like a dog or fox, but to a two-legged 

 animal like a man, it is very heavy and awkward. 

 Before I got half way up, there seemed to be a vac- 

 uum all about me, so labored was my breathing, and 

 when I reached the summit, my head swam and my 

 knees were about giving out, but pressing on I had 

 barely time to reach a point in the road abreast of 

 the orchard, when I heard the hounds, and looking 

 under the trees, saw the fox, leaping high above the 

 weeds and grass, coming straight toward me. He 

 evidently had not got over the first scare, which our 

 haphazard fusilade had given him, and was making 

 unusually quick time. I was armed with a rifle and 



