140 FOX-HUNTING 



has been chopped before making his try 

 for the open. No, it is not the pace of a 

 run, the distance from point to point, or the 

 perfection of the country, that make up the 

 whole sport of hunting. The sport consists 

 in the meeting of the hound and the animal 

 hunted on nature's own terms in a free field 

 with no favour, and in being there to 

 see the struggle. And to the man with 

 real hunting instinct, no steeplechase after 

 aniseed or a bagman can give the satis- 

 faction and delight of the success in account- 

 ing for a wild-bred fox, whether the day be 

 bright or dull, the scent hot or cold. And 

 while no one could derive greater enjoyment 

 from the fast good thing over the pick of 

 the country, more than half his pleasure is 

 due to the feeling that the reward of a red- 



