With Hounds at Dawn 



PRIOR to the Cub-Hunting season young hounds know 

 nothing of the task before them or of what is expected 

 of them henceforth in life. They have never seen a 

 fox. His scent means nothing to them. If a young 

 un-entered puppy encountered a fox who had never 

 been hunted, their meeting might be as friendly as that 

 of other creatures of the wood. Up to the present 

 moment of their existence neither has any reason to 

 expect molestation from the other. The less timorous 

 of the two may withdraw quietly so as to avoid arousing 

 any unnecessary suspicions in the other. If he bolts 

 hurriedly the other may pursue him for the sheer excite- 

 ment of doing so. If, however, one of the parties is 

 an old seasoned fox, a fighter to his brush-tag, the 

 young fox-hound puppy may be the first to think of 

 bolting. 



It is then that the example of an old hound gives 

 the startled puppy his first lesson in fox-hound deport- 

 ment. Puppies should not bolt; and as a flash of 

 dappled fury crashes past him through the undergrowth, 

 old " Resolute " shows his young kennel-mate how to 

 behave on such occasions ! With a growl of anger he 

 charges the fox. His voice summons other hounds who 

 behave similarly, and as they rush past the bewildered 



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