The First Draw of the Season 



EVERYONE at the meet is amazed that the Master is 

 drawing this covert. It is a big low-lying wood, and 

 for that reason is usually blank; as there are few dry 

 places in it where a fox could kennel comfortably. The 

 little gorse covert on the hill would have provided an 

 instant find. It seems pointless, if not actually ominous, 

 that the Master should open the season with a blank 

 draw. 



The odds seem all against him. The wood has a 

 notorious reputation for being tenantless, even during 

 dry weather : but after the recent heavy rains, with the 

 country riding deep and every ditch brimming, it seems 

 quite ludicrous even to think of finding a fox in such 

 a place. 



Riders' calculations and murmured criticisms are of 

 little avail when weighed against the opinion of an old 

 man on foot who is whispering to the Master. But 

 more convincing than any human assurance, be it ever 

 so dependable, is the behaviour of the pack. One need 

 not be an authority on foxhound deportment to realise 

 that the master is justified in drawing this wood. 



Hounds leave his side like a flash; heads in the air, 

 sterns waving jauntily, eyes smouldering resolutely, 

 vanishing with a dash of confidence into the big wood. 



45 



