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not. An experienced fox, when once lie has got a few 

 fields ahead of the pack, will keep going at a steady 

 pace that will neither tire his hmbs nor exhaust his 

 lungs, but will enable him to increase his lead e very- 

 minute if scent is not too good. A check, however 

 short, when the huntsman has to cast hounds, will 

 mean the loss of at least two or three minutes, in which 

 time the fugitive will gain the same number of fields. 

 This is the explanation of why runs that seemed 

 promising at the start, get slower and slower until 

 finally fading away to nothing. 



If hounds get away close to their fox, and can keep 

 at him for ten or fifteen minutes without a moment's 

 respite, he will soon be gasping for air, which his over- 

 strained lungs will be unable to supply. Then it is the 

 panting fugitive must depend on his wdts to evade the 

 impending doom, and by dodging tactics gain temporary 

 relief in order to recharge with oxygen. A continuation 

 of the straight course under these conditions would 

 inevitably lead to disaster, and a favourite subterfuge, 

 after going through a fence for some yards into the 

 field beyond, is to double back and run at a right angle 

 to the previous direction under shelter of the hedge. 

 The pace at which hounds were running, and their 

 drive, would carry them far beyond the turning point, 

 when, if Reynard is able to escape watchful human 

 eyes, he can he down and recover his wind. The 

 usually sound hunting rule of " always cast forward " 

 is, on an occasion of this kind, likely to favour the 

 hunted, and be the means of allowing him to go free. 

 Hounds, if any good, would, on finding no scent forward, 

 have swung back to the point they last touched it, but 

 a hard riding field would effectually prevent them doing 

 that, and thus a fox is often able to save his life. 



