192 THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND. 



' ' Jealous ? ' ' repeated my companion, with 

 a proud lash of his stern, " I flatter myself 

 that I can afford to be generous.'' 



Seeing, however, that he was a little 

 annoyed at the attention I received, I said 

 nothing more, but jogged in silence by the side 

 of the Squire's horse. 



" By the way," said our master, address- 

 ing Will, " in speaking of haste, let this 

 morning be another lesson to you not to take 

 your hounds off their noses with a sinking 

 fox. More are lost by that than by any 

 other mistake committed. There was every 

 probability of your leaving your fox behind in 

 the ditch, and then you would have said that 

 he had headed back to cover. A fresh one 

 would have been got up, and the error 

 remained undiscovered. Countless foxes, 

 booked safe to die, are changed in this 

 manner, and escape from no other reason than 

 from taking hounds off their noses. Remem- 

 ber this, William." 



The huntsman touched his cap, and the 

 conversation dropped. 



