WITH HORSE AND HOUND 



Now, Sam, show yourself worthy to bear the horn, for there 

 are few things requiring nicer judgment and discretion than 

 making a cast in water. On go the pack — they reach the 

 stream, and check for a moment. Then half the hounds rush 

 through it, while many swim down stream, giving tongue as 

 they go, and apparently hunting the deer down the water. 



' Beware ! for this is a critical moment. If the stag has 

 gone up stream the water will carry the scent downwards, and 

 the hounds will go on and on for miles in a different direction 

 from that in which the deer has gone. In this instance I will 

 wager he has not gone far down stream, for from our vantage- 

 ground, as we come over the crest of the hill, I saw the sheep 

 feeding quietly in yonder coombe by the river side, not huddled 

 as they would have been, if our quarry had passed near them — 

 and, moreover, I descried a watchful heron which was fishing 

 in a shallow pool, while his companion flapped heavily and 

 securely down the water in quest of other feeding-grounds. 

 If our deer had passed these shy birds, they would have been 

 careering high above our heads in search of more quiet and 

 undisturbed retreats. For such signs as these the huntsman 

 must ever be on the look-out, if he desire to match his powers 

 of reasoning and observation against the cunning and sagacity 

 of a deer. . . . 



' He has refreshed himself in a deep pool close to the spot 

 where he took soil, and without staying long to enjoy the 

 luxiu-y of the bath, has risen, though not " fresh as the foam," 

 again to stretch across the moor, and if possible, to seek safety 

 among the herd on Scab Hill, whose numbers saved him only 

 last week. 



* Away ! away ! over the stone walls and across the forest. 



Fortunately not one deer is in the line to divert the attention 



of the hounds ; though far to the left are to be seen against the 



sky-line, the forms of some fifteen or twenty deer, whose 



watchful eyes and ears have seen sights and heard sounds 



which bode danger, and warn them to be on the alert. The 



Master goes gallantly to the fore on " Little Nell," though his 



36 



