30 RIDING, DRIVING AND KINDRED SPORTS 



rider's point of view it is well worth while to 

 understand something- about hounds. Much 

 can be done in the way of saving- a horse 

 by the man who can in some measure antici- 

 pate the movements of hounds. The place 

 to keep one's eye upon is about the middle of 

 the pack, for there it is that the most trust- 

 worthy hounds are driving on the line of the fox. 

 When they begin to waver it is time to take 

 a pull, for a check or a turn is imminent. Foxes 

 run to points ; up or down wind, except in a 

 gale, makes very little difference. Yet the 

 down wind side is the best, if only because you 

 can hear better. It will not be long before you 

 will, if you hunt much with the same pack of 

 hounds, be able to distinguish some of their 

 voices. In one pack I hunted with, there 

 was a famous old bitch with a curious " twang " 

 in her voice, and so long as you could hear this 

 you could ride forward confidently. When it 

 ceased you could pull back with equal confi- 

 dence, for a check was imminent, and it is in 

 such a case well to be able, if you are in front, 

 to drop back into a less distinguished position. 

 If thinos cro wronof, it is not so much the worst 

 offender, as the first man he sees who, like 

 Jephtha's daughter, is offered a sacrifice to the 

 master's wrath. 



In another pack there was a hound the hunts- 



