JANUARY. 



HUNTING WITH BEAGLES. 



BY H. H. S. PEARSE. 



FOLLOWING hounds on foot is not a sport that commends itself to 

 middle-aged gentlemen, who are apt, perhaps, to regard it as a 

 frivolous pursuit, fit only for boys to indulge in. Yet those who 

 have been bitten by a passion for that form of hunting in their 

 younger days find its fascinations too strong to be lightly shaken 

 off as age advances. It is a diversion that can be enjoyed to the 

 full only by those who have strong limbs, sound wind and keen 

 enthusiasm all attributes of youth ; but I have known many men 

 whose love for it did not .wane to the end of their lives, and, at 

 least, one could be named who, though now a good deal on the 

 shady side of fifty and no longer able to take the lead in a fast 

 burst, is hard to beat at feats of long endurance. He will keep 

 jogging along at a drover's trot, up hill or down, on firm turf 

 or through deep plough, and nothing seems to tire him. He is, to 

 all who try conclusions with him, a perpetual reminder of the 

 truth that age in training can hold its own against youth out of 

 condition any day ; and if asked, he would certainly say that all 

 this he owes to the merry music of beagles. Few of us have 

 either opportunity or inclination to attain such a state of fitness, 



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