SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 335 



sitting upon a tall tree^ at the end of a plantation 

 just in sight. 



'^ Ah ! YOU are thought to bring bad luck to most 

 folk/^ chuckled our huntsman; "but a good friend 

 to hounds — quite as good as a whipper-in sometimes;" 

 and as they reached the middle of the plantation, 

 tongues began to be let loose right merrily, and 

 away they went at the farthest end, with heads up 

 and sterns down. "Now for the bit of luck, Mr. 

 Staveley/^ cried Will Headman joyously, " if Jem is 

 there before him, it's all right enough, and the 

 cream of the thing is to come." 



"Aye, aye, "VYill, I see now all about Jem's 

 smoking his pipe." 



" He's a wide-awake fellow, sir, and quick to take 

 a hint ; but this old fox, has got a deal of running 

 in him yet, and to my thinking, there won't be any 

 more riding over hounds. The wind has shifted a 

 little, and the air feels warmer than it was an hour 

 agone." 



" We have become warmer Will from increased 

 pace, and the fur on that old fox's back has been 

 warmed also. The faster he flies, the better the 

 scent. Up to this point, we have been almost 

 walking after him." 



"Yes, sir, that's true enough; but the wind has 

 shifted, notwithstanding, and we are now nearly 

 running up wind instead of down, which makes all 

 the difference." 



For a couple of miles, the hounds pressed forward 

 with extended column, at three-parts speed ; nearer 

 and nearer they approach the earth in the old 



