TWO HARE-HUNTS 



vivid green line of sprouting corn bisects the patch. 

 Are they right? The master carries his hounds that 

 way. In three minutes the lady and the schoolboy are 

 triumphantly vindicated. The hounds burst into a 

 chorus of beautiful and most cheery melody, and away 

 we go again. 



Now the hunted hare takes a sweep over the country 

 between Jevington and East Dean, circles back to her 

 old haunts, and then pushing past the field where she 

 was originally seated, heads straight for Eastbourne. 

 On the plough the scent is still catchy and inconstant, 

 but it is improving. On the grass they run excellently, 

 and the foot-people are perceptibly tailing. Presently 

 we are on the down above Eastbourne. Hounds rave 

 down the steep hillside, away over the upper end of 

 the golf links, across the wide valley, and then, as hard 

 as they can tear, so good is now the scent, streak up 

 the wall-like side of down to the East Dean road. 

 This we cross, and then forward away again for the 

 Jevington Downs. Already the hunt has been a 

 longish one — more than an hour and a half — the pace 

 and the sticky state of the country are telling ; less 

 than a score of runners are now following, even among 

 these the weeding-out process is steadily progressing. 

 After a fine burst along the grass, we check on some 

 more plough, and for the next twenty minutes some 

 of the prettiest hunting of the day is witnessed. Scent 

 has suddenly failed again, and hounds have much diffi- 

 culty to carry the line forward. Never were four-footed 

 creatures more busy ; as a lesson in the absolute con- 

 centration of energy and of talent nothing could be 

 more beautiful. 



Hunting slowly over the ploughs, packed closely 

 together, yet all at work, they nose out the puzzle set 

 by that most cunning and resourceful beast of chase 



87 



