378 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



has cither rained or mizzled every day in the week 

 this season, except one Sunday, my dodge answers 

 the purpose very well." 



" I shan't forget the hint, squire ; but where is all 

 the gents that set out from Hazel Grove, sworn to ride 

 us down?^' 



'^ And that Mr. Harkaway," chimed in Jem, who 

 had got upon his legs again ; " he funked the river 

 when we went into it^ and turned away for the 

 bridge with the rest on 'em. Well, Vd rather be 

 drowned than that any one of that B.C. Hunt should 

 have been up at the finish of this old fox. "We 

 have blow'd ^em all up, high and low — on down and 

 in the vale ; and 1^11 warrant our good old master, 

 when we gets home, will give us a hearty welcome 

 for beating the knowing ones so thoroughly.-'^ 



"Now, sir,'' said Headman, as they tramped 

 along on foot towards the Queen's Head, "I sup- 

 pose you didn't expect a scent in such weather as 

 this, with the mist freezing on our coats as it falls, 

 and the wind in the east ; but then you see, squire, 

 there's no rule for it, as I said this morning, not- 

 withstanding all the philosophers tell us about it. 

 It were better, though, on the downs than it is in 

 the vale, where generally the land is of a colder 

 nature, and for choice I'll back the lighter soils 

 against the heavy ones; but there the Aair, squire, 

 has more to do with scent than the 'arth." 



" That's true enough, Will, for I remember seeing 

 a capital scent with spaniels when out shooting last 

 year, during the hardest frost I ever remember. The 

 wind was due east, as it is now^ and the cold most 



