RIDING TO FOX-HOUNDS. 199 



hunting" amongst his friends. It is impossible to say 

 how many innocent cubs are preserved by such judicious 

 liberality to die what Charles Payne calls " a natural 

 death." 



And now your quiet perseverance meets its reward. 

 You regain your place with the hounds and are sur- 

 prised to find how easily and temperately your horse, 

 not yet exhausted, covers large flying fences in his 

 stride. A half-beaten hunter, as I have already 

 observed, will " lob over " high and wide places if they 

 can be done in a single effort, although instinct causes 

 him to " cut them very fine," and forbids unnecessary 

 exertion ; but it is " the beginning of the end," and 

 you must not presume on his game, enduring qualities 

 too long. 



The object of your pursuit, however, is also mortal. 

 By the time you have tired an honest horse in good 

 condition the fox is driven to his last resources, and 

 even the hounds are less full of fire than when they 

 brought him away from the covert. I am supposing, 

 of course, that they have not changed during the run. 

 You may now save many a furlong by bringing your 

 common sense into play. What would you do if 

 you were a beaten fox, and where would you go ? 

 Certainly not across the middle of those large pastures 



