OF THE TAKING OF THE STAG. 97 



autumn, but in the winter it is fairly frequent. 

 Occasionally there is foggy weather even in August 

 and September, which greatly spoils sport. It is 

 impossible to hunt when it is what the villagers 

 call " dark out over." Unless the deer is viewed 

 away it is not safe to lay the pack on. No one would 

 know what was being hunted. Moreover, hounds 

 would run right away from the best of riders on the 

 open, and probably half the field would spend the 

 night on the moor, if the fog lasted all day. There is 

 nothing for it but to wait till the fog lifts, but if it 

 does not clear by one or two o'clock hounds generally 

 go home. 



Once, after waiting at Yarnor Moor Lodge till a 

 few minutes past one, the fog rolled up like a curtain. 

 Arthur Heal had his tufters out in a moment, found 

 a stag in Smallacombe, and in less than half an hour 

 a large field were galloping for all they were worth 

 across the moor, a very fast run ending in a kill at 

 Stentaway Bridge. One well-known member of the 

 hunt had a narrow escape that day from what might 

 have been a nasty accident — his horse came down, 

 and his foot was fast in the stirrup. Luckily his foot 

 pulled out of his boot, and away went the horse with 

 the boot in the stirrup, leaving his owner painfully 

 running after him in his stocking foot. 



'' Is that the hunted deer?" is a question which is 

 frequently asked in the middle of a run, when a deer 

 is seen to break from a covert where a change was 

 probable, with the natural corollary, " To halloa, or 



H 



