THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND. 47 



" unless, indeed, he's a dying one : for then, 

 as he can show no more sport, the sooner 

 he is killed the better. I'm one of the 

 last men living," continued the huntsman, 

 emphatically, " to kill a fox by either lifting 

 hounds or any other means, except by a fair 

 find — a fair rattle from scent to view, and 

 pulling him down when he can't run any 

 farther. But it isn't every day that we can 

 have such cream of sport ; and for any one to 

 say that it's unjustifiable to lift or assist 

 hounds to run when they can't hunt, or that 

 we should never hold a fox in covert, is to 

 acknowledge himself to be too tame a hand 

 for a killer of foxes." 



" Nobody will accuse you of being that," 

 rejoined his nephew, laughing, ** if they 

 count the noses on the kennel-door at the end 

 of each season." 



" I hope not," returned the huntsman, 

 seriously. " I hope," continued he, '' that 

 when Will Sykes's tally comes to be reckoned 

 up and squared, those noses will go in the 

 scales with his morals, and make' em kick the 

 beam." 



It has been said that Will Sykes possessed a 

 wide circle of admirers; and therefore to be 



