118 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



turn from nothing; they have been going brihiantly, 

 straight as arrows, rather wide, than otherwise, of the 

 hounds ; they have been nearly in a hne with tlie head 

 of the pack. They must have gone the pace, but they 

 have pulled up on the first indication of a check ; and, 

 behold, their horses are not blown, not covered with blood 

 and foam, like some which have been doing wonders. 

 They know well what they are about, for they ride well 

 to hunt, and they have learned to know when hounds 

 are running with or without a scent. They have a 

 pretty shrewd idea how far hounds carried, and where 

 they overshot it ; they know the points, and can render 

 a good account of all the incidents in the run. — 

 These are sportsmen. A novice in the art of riding to 

 hounds should learn early to depend entirely upon his 

 own eye and judgment — to follow no one — to become 

 acquainted, as soon as possible, with the country ; to 

 take his own line, and keep it. Take most heed to the 

 state of the ground from which a horse takes off at a 

 fence; it is the fidcnim on which the accomplishment of 

 the leap depends. Prefer taking it higher, or wider, with 

 a good take off, than riding for a gap where the ground 

 is false. Remember, that the man who hesitates is lost ; 

 and, when your mind is made up, do not vacillate ; 

 above all, do not leave your own line, to follow that of 

 another man, for a better. You have no right to follow 

 close in his wake over a fence which dozens may take 



