160 FOX-HUNTING 



citement, and to his love of movement, of 

 display of colour, or of the picturesque. 

 The scene in which each act takes place 

 varies not only with the formation of the 

 ground, the alternation of hill and vale, of 

 woodland and field, but alters its dress with 

 every month, or with the infinite changes 

 wrought by sun and skies. The line of a 

 fox may be guessed, but never counted on ; 

 the pace of a run may be fast or slow ; the 

 end may be near or far distant. Scent, as 

 incomprehensible as woman, may be good, 

 bad, or indifferent ; and when you trust it, 

 it may suddenly jilt you ; when cold, may 

 turn as suddenly hot. The ill fortune of a 

 day may be turned by a happy hit of hound 

 or huntsman, or a run lost by a careless 

 halloo or an unlucky cast. Your place with 



