148 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



fox win find himself, but there are as many others on 

 which he will wait to be almost whipped out of his ken- 

 nel. It is the huntsman's duty to draw every covert, to 

 the full satisfaction of the proprietor ; and it is better, 

 also, to take instructions quietly communicated by the 

 parties authorized to offer them, as to the way in which it 

 should be drawn. Thus, no plausible pretext will be left 

 to account for a blank. When the huntsman is drawing 

 one half, or division, of the covert, it is the duty of the 

 whippers-in to stop all stragglers from the main body, 

 and keep them, if possible, within the prescribed boun- 

 dary; more especially where foxes are numerous, as it is 

 most important to get the whole pack settled, at first, to 

 one scent : but this exercise of authority requires judg- 

 ment, and any interference, on the part of a novice, or 

 any one unacquainted with the hounds, might be, as 

 in most cases, highly impolitic. A couple or two, or a 

 single hoiuid, may have come across and struck upon the 

 scent of a fox which has shifted, unseen, across a ride. 

 The scent in the stuff is too stale for them freely to own, 

 and speak to it ; the ride is redolent only of the steam 

 of horses, mingled, perhaps, with that of the Indian weed. 

 They cast themselves, with wonted sagacity, at once 

 across. They may be young hounds, in which the 

 owner, or huntsman, has not implicit confidence enough 

 to elicit a cheer ; but any injudicious " hark back," or 

 premature cry of " ware riot," may stop the consumma- 

 tion most devoutly to be wished, delaying, or altogether 

 preventing, a pretty find. It is a terrible mistake, that 



