444 



FOX -HOUND, FOREST, AND PRAIRIE. 



two strides away. (Those are trying moments when the 



heather seems to vanish before your gallop, when you look in 



vain for tuft and hassock, and when nothing remains but to 



« hold your breath — and the head of your struggling beast as he 





1 . ! : 



/writ ''//*/< ' 



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isr 





^m 



U. « -/ ' 



plunges into the green, dank morass. How grateful you feel to- 

 him and to the directing cherub, who watches over the cross- 

 country rider and his fortunes quite as staunchly as over 

 seafaring Jack, when a last heave and a final gasp land you» 

 once more upon heather firma !) In a few minutes we were in 

 Bolderwood, one of the highest and most picturesque of the- 

 Inclosures, and a favourite point of excursion from Lyndhurst 

 and other tourist-centres. At the present moment a coach had 

 just driven up, and deposited its load for their picnic. Hounds; 

 and deer were soon again in sight as we galloped on ; and our 

 progress was now among the dark rides of the woodland. To- 

 shorten my story, it will be enough to tell that our deer, a 

 young pricket, broke his foreleg as he jumped the high railings- 

 to turn back towards the open ; and that a few minutes later 

 hounds pulled him down within the coverts. 



