THE KNUSTON FOX 117 



hounds ? " u Because," I replied, " I had nothing to come across 

 the water for." " Why, the fox," they said, " was sure to be 

 gone to Clapham Park; so we all went round." I then told 

 them I had killed him ; which assertion was met by dubious 

 shakes of the head, although I told them I saw the hounds 

 catch him and drown him. " Where's his brush ? " said one. 

 " In the water with him," I replied, " where you may fish for it." 

 After a good deal of joking about it, the matter dropped; we 

 had a good day's sport ; and when I returned to Harrold, the 

 miller had brought the body of our old friend, which, sure 

 enough, had been earned to the bars of the flood-gate put to 

 keep back the weeds. It was not a satisfactory triumph ; but 

 so ended the Moulsoe fox. 



I found a fox at Knuston Hall, where that good old sports- 

 man, Sir Peter Payne, then resided, who took me an unusual 

 line over the open for Yardley Chase, selecting, in his line, 

 several cottage gardens and odd places, sheepfolds, etc. He 

 bothered me much with repeated checks, with little to guide me 

 in guessing where he was going, and eventually, after a good 

 run, beat me. Some time afterwards I found him at Knuston 

 again, and he broke from the spinnies, across a small grass 

 ground, into one very large, in which was a flock of sheep 

 scattered on their feed. The hounds were coming on his line 

 down the spinny, so I cantered after him across the small field, 

 and stopped, and watched him through the sheep. He went 

 for the thickest of the foil, and all the sheep ran after him : 

 however, I knew the spot where he again got on fresh ground ; 

 and when the hounds checked in the middle of the field, as I 

 guessed they would, I was at no loss for the quickest way in 

 putting them right. The run was just like the former one : 

 every sort of difficulty was put between him and the hounds ; 

 but knowing something of his line, and the scent being a trifle 

 better, I contrived to have very little delay. As I cast for a 

 cottage garden, an old woman stood there, who cried out, 

 " Here, sir, the fox is gone over the same corner of the wall he 

 did last time you were here;" and sure enough, in a dozen 



