276 RECORDS OF THE CHASE 



hounds, but the dyke proved a stopper. Mr. Willerton 

 was the only gentleman who crossed the dyke, which 

 he accomplished with great difficulty. The others 

 made for a place that was fordable, and after losing a 

 considerable space of time got on to the line, when 

 inquiries were made which way the hounds had gone. 

 " Straight away, and only one gentleman with them," 

 was the answer, and all put forward at best pace, 

 hoping a check would let them in. A more formidable 

 place than the Car Dyke then presented itself, the 

 Helpringham Eau, a deep bottomless drain, some fifty 

 feet wide. Mr. Willerton crossed this also, but the 

 hounds were out of sight. The second whip followed 

 Mr. Willerton 's example, and with the exception of 

 Goosey and Mr. Tindle, who, after riding some two 

 hours and a half in the direction of Boston, came up 

 with the hounds at last : no one else saw anything of 

 the run. Goosey got to his hounds just as it was 

 getting dark, and being then thirty-four miles from 

 home in a strange country, thought it prudent to whip 

 off, and reached the kennel about half-past one the 

 next morning. During the last half-hour the fox was 

 never above ten minutes before the hounds, and 

 latterly they were frequently in the same field together. 

 He was one of the coolest hands ever known ; and after 

 crossing one of the fen drains he was seen to go into a 

 stackyard and rub his sides against a stack, starting 

 off as soon as he heard the hounds approaching. When 

 they whipped off he was not five minutes before them ; 

 and took up his quarters that night in a shed within 

 two hundred yards of the place. The distance was 

 thirty-seven miles from point to point without any 

 turnings, and considering all things could not be less 

 than forty-five miles. The run lasted three hours and 

 thirty-seven minutes, with only three or four short 

 checks. 



Comment is unnecessary; it serves to show what 

 hounds can do by themselves on a good-scenting day 

 when unmolested by a crowd of horsemen. 



