THE BELVOIR HUNT. 37 



upset their machinations. A trot of some 

 three miles or more to Sproxton Thorns 

 served to take away the stiffness of aged 

 hunters and reHeve the pipes of the ple- 

 thoric. The hounds soon found, and after 

 a little coquetting, a fine fox presented him- 

 self in the open. On the left there runs 

 a lane, which was thronged with spirits 

 ambitious for a start, and a large portion 

 of the field, equally anxious, occupied the 

 country on the right. Before a hound was 

 out of covert, halloos in both directions In- 

 creased the confusion ; a brace of foxes, as 

 it eventually appeared, were on foot, one of 

 which gallantly faced the throng of horse- 

 men in the lane. The other, with equal 

 determination, threaded his way through 

 the horses on the right, and the hounds 

 dividing were working as best they could 

 in both directions. Which way to steer 

 was a matter of uncertainty, but seeing 

 Cooper, and hearing his horn on the left, 



