172 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



little tliought, particularly Jack, who was the first 

 in fault, as to believe that a weary animal, viewed 

 by the huntsman not two seconds before, could have 

 left the plantation, and by taking a semicircle, which 

 he must have done, placed himself a mile in his 

 rear. The hubbub caused by the "too-tooing" row 

 havino- subsided in the distance, and observing that 

 several hounds still feathered around some brambles, 

 refusing to be put away, I watched the result, and 

 it was just what I expected; the remaining hounds 

 killed their fox before Jack Stephens could have 

 reached the vicinity of the supposed holloa. I got 

 off my horse to cut off the brush and the nose for 

 the kennel door, but my knife had made an exit for 

 itself in my pocket, and had chosen to depart, so I 

 let the five or six couple of hounds worry the fox, 

 taking from them a hinder leg, the brush which was 

 attached to it, and the head, which I hung up in a 

 tree, called the hounds awa}^, and set off after the 

 rest. I had not gone far before I met them all re- 

 turning, the holloa having come from a man scaring 

 rooks. "Where have you been ?" said Mr. Wilkins ; 

 " we have been to a wrong holloa which we went to, 

 being quite sure our fox had slipped us." " I have 

 been watching the fox slip away," I replied, " but it 

 was 'the way' into the stomachs of Countess and 

 some others ; for when you slipped away after the 

 crow-keeper, your hounds killed their fox." " Non- 

 sense," said Mr. Wilkins, " you'i^e cutting it too fat." 

 " Get down from your horse," I said, " if you don't 

 believe me ;" and pointing to several of the hounds 

 who were bloody, I bade him at least make use of his 

 nose and smell their heads. One of the men did so, 

 and said, " It's a fox, sure enough." So nettled at 



