Chapter XVII 



MANAGEMENT OF A PACK OF HOUNDS 



" A HUNTING we wil1 >" as runs 

 /^ the old English roundelay, can 



/"" "%^ hardly be read by even the most 

 phlegmatic without a stirring of 

 the pulse, and an indefinite wish that one had, 

 "when all the world was young, boys," turned 

 more attention to the joys and perils, the tri- 

 umphs and the vicissitudes of such outdoor 

 pursuits. Involuntarily one straightens the droop- 

 ing shoulders, and expands the chest which, all 

 too seldom, rejoice in such novel sensations ; 

 and a sigh of regret at opportunities lost, dis- 

 misses an idea which might, under proper culti- 

 vation, result in endless benefit to even the man 

 of middle age, or worse, would he but cast aside 

 the clogging fetters of indolence, and, accepting 

 the goods the gods provide, fare him forth to 

 undertakings which would prove as healthful as 

 inexpensive, and as fatal to his increasing girth 



251 



