THE CHASE OF A HIND. 123 



hounds were stopped. Back again to Sweet Tree, 

 where a Httle herd of six hinds could be seen standing 

 in the gorse bushes. We laid on, ran across Bagley 

 Combe and over vStoke Ridge as if for Stoke Pero, 

 but we soon swung round towards Dunkery once 

 more, crossing the worst part of the wet ground, 

 where no horse could follow the hounds ; in a 

 moment they were out of sight and hearing. We 

 pushed on, got below the hurricane level where we " 

 could see, but there was no sign of them ; cast back 

 throuo^h the foe; and down the hill till we could see 

 on the other side. There we gained tidings that 

 hounds had just run hard out of Sweet Tree pointing 

 to the forest, and that Mr. Evered was with them 

 and Sidney close up. Anthony galloped on, dis- 

 tanced the rest of us, and came up with his hounds 

 just in time to stop them off a stag ; but by good 

 fortune a hind was seen, what poor old Miles used 

 to call " quatted " in the heather close by. She 

 jumped up and went back towards the covert, rolling 

 and labouring in her gait, and Sinbad got a view. It 

 was a bad look-out for a beaten deer when Sinbad 

 got a view. From here it was a race back to Sweet 

 Tree and down the water. We pushed on past the 

 farm across the meet field as fast as we could go, 

 but hounds, running hard for blood, were before us, 

 so we galloped on down the Horner Water till we 

 caught sight of Farmer Adams's two labourers and 

 an artilleryman running beside the stream ; they 

 stopped short and plunged in just as we rode up, for 



