FIGHT YOUR HOUNDS, AND THEy'LL FIGHT YOU. 173 



even a doubt, though in joke, being cast on any 

 information of mine, I insisted good-humouredly, 

 that he would let one of his men go with me for the 

 head and brush ; he did so, which placed the matter 

 in its rio;ht lio-ht. 



There is another position I have ever taken, as 

 firmly as the one that a hound takes his character 

 from his huntsman, and it is this : If a huntsman 

 begins to fight with his hounds, let them be ever so 

 steady, they will fight with him, and by his unsteadi- 

 ness they will become unsettled. If you pull at a 

 horse, he will pull at you, on the same principle. 

 Before I had my hounds in Bedfordshire three years, 

 Bob Oldaker, who then hunted the Salisbury or Hat- 

 field hounds, came over to my kennel for a mount. 

 I put him on Jack-o'-Lantern, who was then too 

 old to carry me any longer, and we met at Cowper's 

 Oak. It was quite at the close of the season, and 

 Yardley Chase had been used up, and we were a long 

 time finding a fox. We found at last, and had a very 

 quick thing. I overheard Bob Oldaker say to one of 

 the gentlemen who was out, so it was no idle compli- 

 ment, " that he had seen my hounds draw all day 

 long in those wide woodlands, among hares just 

 enough to tempt a riot, and had not heard a hound 

 speak til] the fox was found." Pretty well that, for 

 their steadhiess under me. The following occurrence, 

 three years afterwards, took place with these hounds 

 in the Pychley country. We had been drawing small 

 spinnies and little gorses, on the plan of " Old fellow, 

 don't take us to a big wood," all day blank, and, at last, 

 in a spinny full of hares some of the young liounds, 

 grown impatient, had a lark, and amused themselves 

 with riot. Jack sat near the cover with Mr. Wilkins, and 



