178 FOX-HUNTING 



Steady now ! Watch the pack as they run down 

 that hedgerow on your right. You will notice 

 that a young hound is leading and that most of 

 the old are following on, as it were under protest. 

 The fox, I think, has run down to the angle where 

 two hedges meet, and, finding no convenient hole, 

 has doubled back to a stile which he passed on 

 the way. Under ordinary conditions you would 

 be right in casting the pack forward, but now you 

 have no whip. Some of the old hounds are already 

 trying back, and if they don't hit it off, you can 

 then get forward with them, but they will run all 

 the better if they can recover it without your 

 assistance. Old ' Rhapsody,' making use of the 

 footboard, hops lightly over the stile, and proclaims 

 the line down the footpath beyond. Foxes seldom 

 run paths except when tired. 



' Forrard ! forrard ! little bitches ! ' A cheer 

 now will do no harm, if the pack know the differ- 

 ence in your voice between when you are cheering 

 them on a scent and you are giving them a view. 



The line of stiles leads to that grey spire which 

 you saw some time ago, and which is now less 

 than half a mile away. There are hoarse yells 

 and shrill screams ahead. You see people rushing 



