THE ART ITSELF 193 



ever, you can see nothing that you think likely 

 to have affected the scent, it is better to leave 

 hounds alone, as with a very weak scent they 

 will not be inclined to stoop again after you have 

 once got their heads up. 



At the time when a frost is going off scent is 

 generally supposed to be bad, and later in the 

 same day, when the frost is all gone, you will 

 notice a marked improvement. Fox-hunting is 

 not carried on in a hard frost, but in my ex- 

 perience with beagles hunting a hare, I have 

 known some extraordinarily good scents when the 

 ground has been as hard as iron. 



I have set down a few facts concerning scent, 

 and have advanced a few theories, but I shall 

 leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. 

 Never be disheartened because a day looks unpro- 

 pitious according to all the rules you have ever 

 heard, and if there is no scent in the morning, 

 hope for better luck in the afternoon. Every 

 one who has ever hunted has some pet idea 

 about scent, which, however, he is certain to see 

 confounded before the end of his experience. 

 Tom Firr disliked seeing a blue mist, and, I think, 

 many other huntsmen consider it an ill omen, but 



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