HO G- HUNTING 1 67 



throuofh the beaters and charo-ed back. Far 

 in the distance rise the cries of the beaters and 

 the rattle of the tom-toms, and the noise comes 

 nearer till it is close to the clump of trees you 

 are hidden in. Louder and more excited 

 shouts tell you the sounder is afoot, and 

 presently you will see a number of little black 

 dots shoot out of the covert, pause for an 

 instant as though to decide upon their point, 

 and then canter off at no great pace, though 

 they are going faster than they seem to. You 

 note that of two big ones among them one is 

 a sow the other a boar. If your eyes are keen, 

 you will be able to catch the gleam of the 

 tushes. You can judge pretty well by the 

 boar's appearance what sort of a day you are 

 going to have. If he is lanky and young he 

 will go fast, jink sharply, and run far. If he is 

 big, fat, and heavy he will very likely turn and 

 fight before he has gone a great distance ; but 

 if, instead of the sounder, a solitary boar is 

 seen lobbing at a dignified pace over the plain, 

 then you will certainly have more fighting than 

 galloping, and lucky — or, perhaps, I should say 

 skilful — will that party be which comes off 

 without one or more horses badly cut. The 

 horse will probably have seen the pig before 

 you do, and you will feel his heart beating 

 aeainst his ribs. The oood beast knows the 



