THE NOBLE SCIENCE, 175 



ference to the ran ; whereas, if you get upon him ever 

 so late, should he have headed back, no one can blame 

 you for any time lost ; nor is it, indeed, of the same 

 consequence; as he generally makes his point back 

 whence he came, or is viewed by dozens of people, 

 when he would have been unseen by any one, had he 

 not returned. Moreover, when a fox does head com- 

 pletely back, the cream of the thing is broken : men do 

 not ride with the same zest, the last may be first, and 

 vice versa; the sharpness, the edge of the affair, is 

 blunted ; and although you may have very good sport, 

 and kill in a way satisfactory enough to a master of 

 hounds — "sitrgit amari aliquid" — in the description even 

 of a good ring, it is a sort of reflection upon the business, 

 and men forgive themselves more easily for missing 

 any part of it. If, on the contrary, the fox is reported 

 to have been viewed, holding on his course, as straight 

 as could have been desired, there will be no end to 

 the talk of the wonders which might have been en- 

 acted ; nor can you forgive yourself, or even be forgiven, 

 for doubting the bravery and stoutness of the fox. You 

 have no right to suppose a fox beaten, unless the pace, 

 and the time you have been running him, warrant the 

 conclusion. If you fancy that he has taken refuge 

 under ground, or in some outhouse, or rick yard, it will 

 be time enough to search, and determine this point, 

 after you have ascertained that he is not still showing 

 his heels to you. He may have gone to the very mouth 

 of a drain, may have passed under a barn, over a house. 



