270 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



a sinking fox. He leaves the whippers-in to bring on the 

 pack the best they know how, and rides on madly, cheer- 

 ing to his two faithful hounds. A check again : as they come 

 out of a bit of woodland into more open country, even 

 Bluebells and Forrester can follow no farther. Where is 

 Renard gone ? West ? No ; a man is ploughing over 

 there. East ? No ; a man and a dog are quietly crossing 

 a field in that direction, or a timber-waggon is passing 

 along the highway. Whatever our huntsman does, he 

 takes in the whole situation at one sweeping glance, and 

 his mind is made up instantly. Ah ! He hears a jay-bird 

 making an unusual tumult in yonder piece of wood : his 

 fox is passing near it. Or the crows are seen a quarter of 

 a mile away making a swoop toward the earth : they are 

 mobbing the tired fox. Or, again, in a still more distant 

 field a flock of sheep are standing with heads up and faces 

 all in one direction : Mr. Renard is no doubt just passing 

 there. 



So the game goes on, plot against counter-plot, cunning 

 against woodcraft, until the crafty fox wins at last or the 

 hounds have accounted for him by tracking him to earth. 

 It needs little more, certainly, to show the reader how 

 important the huntsman is in the game. What we have 

 seen him do, however, is not the half of what he is expected 

 to do and know. It goes without saying, too, that he 

 must be a very superior horseman and an accomplished 

 rider, and know every nook, corner, ditch, and ravine of 

 every farm for twenty miles around. 



The duties of whippers-in are, speaking in a general 

 way, to assist the huntsman in the management of the 



