290 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



are four or five years old, and will stand in their tracks 

 and kill or wound every hound that comes near them. 

 Therefore all this noise and racket to arouse him. It is a very 

 dangerous business for huntsmen or IVIaster to go in with the 

 hounds to meet a full grown boar. Sometimes such boars have 

 to be shot in their tracks as they will not move. It is on this 

 account that onlj^ two or three couple of selected hounds are 

 allowed to go in to help start him. These chosen hounds have 

 previously been wounded by a boar and know enough to keep 

 out of liis range. If, however, they succeed in putting him on 

 foot before the other hounds come upon liim he will usually 

 run on until overtaken, in which case he stands at bay, although 

 he fights desperately at every stand he makes, until in the end 

 his keen fighting edge is gone, and the danger of his doing 

 harm to the hounds is correspondingly lessened. 



Instantly hounds hit upon the line they begin to give 

 tongue, and with the shouting and tooting of horns, we will 

 suppose, the boar is set on foot. Like most other game he 

 makes one or two short turns, doubhng back on his track and 

 then sails straight away through the forest. 



As soon as he straightens out for a run, the Master, noting 

 the direction, sounds a signal from his horn to liberate the 

 hounds at C and F : these run on to join the trusty four who are 

 already giving tongue to the line. After doubling back on his 

 track, somewhat as shown in the illustration, the boar crosses 

 ihe road into the section 44 at 5. 



Of course the riders stationed at E and B are on the lookout 

 and as he crosses this road, they sound an alarm on their horns. 

 A few moments later the boar is seen by those stationed at A 

 and E, as he crosses the lane A — E into the southern quarter 

 of section 444, when the hounds, at A and B, are slipped and 

 rush through the forest to join the chase. 



The riders at F rush down the road towards E. From 

 C they ride down the lane towards E. From B and A they ride 



