THE SILVER FOX 13 



irrevocably severed from the others as were 

 the sheep from the goats. 



*' Tell me more about this idea of the 

 hounds," said Hugh, dodging behind the 

 island to avoid the raking sweep of Lady- 

 Susan's advance. " What am I to hunt ? 

 Hares or foxes or a red herring ? " 



" Foxes, of course," replied Slaney ; 

 ** there are any amount of them. Uncle 

 Charles shot two in our wood this autumn." 



** Good Lord 1 " ejaculated Hugh ; " where 

 does he expect to go when he dies ? " 



*' Where do you think?" answered Slaney, 

 with an effort to be suitably flippant ; " if 

 there's anything in the world that Uncle 

 Charles is more convinced of than another it 

 is that he always has moved in the highest 

 circles, and that he always will." 



Hugh laughed in his kindly, indiscrimin- 

 ating way. 



**By the way," went on Slaney, following 

 up a connection of ideas, " there's a curious 

 story in the country now about a fox. Mr. 

 Glasgow wanted gravel for the new railway, 



