120 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



thing to do, I walked across to the covert where we had 

 run the fox to ground in the morning, to see if he had 

 scratched his way out again, as some loose stones only 

 had been thrown into the earth. Great, indeed, was my 

 surprize, when I discovered Old Pilgrim lying at the 

 mouth of the. pipe, having removed all the stones, and 

 dug a hole nearly large enough to hold himself: greater 

 still was my surprize, when upon listening at the earth, 

 I heard the two terriers inside at the fox ! The old dog 

 wagged his tail, and gave me a knowing look, as much 

 as to say, " that will do, we shall soon have him out," 

 and I was so much pleased with his cunning, that I re- 

 solved he should not be disappointed. I accordingly 

 hallooed to a man I saw at work, and sent him home for 

 the whipper-in and a spade. We soon dug the fox out, 

 and carried him home in a sack. Nothing could exceed 

 the delight of the old hound, when he saw the fox safely 

 bagged — he danced and jumped about, and led the way 

 in high glee, as much as to say, " here he comes ! this 

 is my doing." Having deposited the fox in a safe place, 

 the old hound appeared quite satisfied ; but when it be- 

 came dark, we turned him loose again. 



There is nothing extraordinary in the hound going 

 again to visit the place where he had seen the fox run to 

 ground, but the mystery is, how he prevailed upon the 

 terriers, which had not been out that day, to go with 

 him. Instinct, in dogs, is very nearly allied to reason, 

 and this dog must have considered that he could not get 

 the fox out without the assistance of the terriers ; and, 

 but for my appearance on the scene, I have no doubt they 

 would have succeeded in their object, as the pipe was 

 not deep, and the soil sandy. 



