THE HUNTED FOX 119 



abreast. Just as hounds appeared in full cry the 

 man went to the horses' heads to adjust the harness. 

 Then he returned to the plough-handle. There, 

 crouched in the furrow, was the hunted fox, trying to 

 use the ploughshare as a screen. A moment later 

 the creature sprang up and struggled onwards. As 

 Mr. Davenport observed, the notable point was that 

 the fox should seek shelter by the ploughshare when 

 there was some thick covert close at hand. May we 

 infer that he thought he was less likely to be looked 

 for near the plough ? At all events between the 

 two points of Allexton Wood and the Lovers' Walk 

 he had had plenty of opportunity to learn that on a 

 scenting day no covert is a refuge for the fox, even 

 if his previous experiences in one of the most con- 

 stantly hunted districts of the shires had not, as is 

 more than likely, taught it to him already. 



Another witness is Mr. Walter Woodgate, so well 

 known to several generations of Oxford men for his 

 knowledge of rowing and of sport. On two occa- 

 sions, he writes, a fox had been seen to run with a 

 pack that were hunting him, ' for in a run with the 

 H.H. the fox had doubled sharply, and the hounds 

 were on the line short of the point at which he had 

 doubled. The fox turned again, reached a tussock 

 of coarse grass, and squatted.' The hounds ran on 



