SCENES FROM THE SADDLE. 



The Fox. 



BY chase alone thy daily life is lived, 

 By chase maybe thy doomed death is met, 

 Unless thy cunning and thy pace reprieve 

 Till age and time enwrap thee in their net. 



By man's decree thou livest thy brief day. 

 By man is set the death that thou shalt die, 



Yet oftentimes thou cheatest his desire, 



His slave by birth, his wish thou dost deny. 



How ends thy Hfe-account of joy and pain ? 



The joys of cub-hood in the quiet wood, 

 The wider joys of life, its months or years 



Doth wild-life fate out-balance all the good ? 



This minor riddle in the great riddle of life cannot be 

 solved by the expedient of merely chasing and not kiUing. 

 The hunting instincts of the hound demand at least some 

 token of success, and in the view of most huntsmen this 

 under the conditions governing the chase comes all too seldom. 

 Where foxes are at all numerous, to kill a fox with hounds 

 is a difficult task, for a fox that is being run and is in danger 

 is frequently able to turn the attention of the pack to another 

 member of "his tribe, and so to obtain a much-wanted respite. 

 A fox in the prime of life, unless he is found far from home 

 at mating time, has a very good chance of escaping his enemies. 

 Cub-hood and old age are the danger periods of the fox. 



13 



