REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 107 



all the hounds crashing at his brush. The cover 

 became foiled, and, though we contrived to head him 

 whenever he would have broken for the great woods 

 and fresh foxes, he lived for another hour ; and then ! 

 did I not rejoice, when I heard that, to a huntsman's 

 ear, unmistakable silence, broken only by a growl, 

 that proclaims a victory! This was my first fox. 

 The gloves I had on when I picked him up, for days 

 were as perfume in my nostrils ; but another triumph 

 the very next day I went out, awaited me ! 



We drew the Melchbourne woods, and found a 

 litter of four cubs. There was plenty of riot there, but 

 the hares were out on the farms, and therefore not in 

 the way ; besides this, there was, though not a bril- 

 liant, a thoroughly good holding scent, enough to keep 

 the pack well together, and to give every hound who 

 wished to hunt plenty to do. We ran hard for more 

 than two hours, and during that time I never saw a 

 hound out of place ; and when at last we settled to a 

 cub, and thoroughly hunted him down, great was 

 my joy to see old Proctor roll him over into a ditch 

 by the side of the woods out of which the body of 

 the pack had driven him. This was triumph number 

 two, and I began to think it was all plain sailing ; 

 but fate had in store for me much hard and up-hill 

 work with the hounds, for which I did not care, had 

 fate but kept men in the Oakley Club from raising a 

 cabal against me. 



I continued to work at the great woods incessantly ; 

 for having a pack to make, as well as having heard 

 the rumour that " if from the open, a fox got into 

 those fastnesses it was all up with sport for the 

 day," I determined to meet both contingencies. The 

 first task then, that I resolved to attempt, was to 



