100 FOX-HOUND, FOREST, AND PRAIRIE. 



horse in a ditch ; but the bottom of the cutting being too 

 narrow to admit of the horse and himself occupying it at 

 same time, he had been able to compound for a release with 

 the loss of spurs, hat and whip. A fourth proclaimed a dis- 

 astrous failure at timber with a thick plastering not only of 

 his own well-dressed form, but of every square inch of the 

 graceless quadruped that had served him such a trick. And 

 ere the da} r was out these four were but ordinary samples of 

 forty. 



Saturday, February 10th, came in rotation as another wild, 

 wet, day. The Cottesmore were at Leesthorpe, and the first 

 move was in search of a fox said to be quartered in a tree 

 by the riverside about opposite Wyfordby. The huntsman, 

 rode right under the tree (an ordinary ash, if I remember 

 right) and there, stretched flat along a branch, lay the gentle- 

 man in question — his eyes twinkling at the intruders, aud 

 his yellow fur in prominent contrast to the dark bough on 

 which he reclined, some ten feet above the ground. Down 

 he came when called upon. Little enough law was given 

 him though, and jumping as far as he could, he lit almost 

 among the pack — splash into the shallow wet ditch. I fancy 

 they scarcely realised at first what was among them ; for 

 he was able to roll out, and, drenched as he was, to get 

 out of their way before they could seize him. Doubling a 

 first hedgerow, he saved his life — though he had many narrow 

 escapes before he was clear of their jaws. A fresh fox, except 

 in infancy, is generally quicker than hounds, if he has a hedge- 

 row to help him ; for they seem to get in each other's way 

 in their impetuous excitement. Meanwhile, as they started 

 in chase, a second fox leaped down behind them and slipped 

 off in safety — a third one preferring to remain ensconced on 

 the same branch. A single fox in a tree used to be held 

 almost a phenomenon. To have verified three in one tree is 

 a fact to be noted. 



There was not scent enough to kill — scarcely enough to 

 bother — the one they pursued. 



