ii6 COURSING THE HARE 



Here I may state that * Jack ' had ' leave ' over one or 

 two small, rough farms, which belonged to a non-resi- 

 dent landlord, and that he took out a shooting license, 

 being thus able to dispose of his game in open market. 

 Of course the quantity he sold, presumably from off 

 the very poor 200 acres where his leave extended, was 

 suspiciously large, but he was a sly old chap, and, 

 known as he was to be a regular poacher, seemed to 

 have a charmed life as far as the gamekeepers were 

 concerned. 



Wei], I took my treasure home, gave him a tre- 

 mendous grooming, fed him, and locked him up for 

 the night, giving him a well-httered kennel to himself. 

 That he howled and barked for twelve hours without 

 ceasing I need hardly say ; but he seemed glad to 

 see me in the morning, and very shortly after daylight 

 I had him in the slips with the best dog in the 

 kennel. (It must be understood that my father bred 

 and kept greyhounds.) A hare was soon found, 

 but, to my dismay, the brindle hardly strained 

 at the slips, and as soon as delivered was left im- 

 measurably behind. The hare topped a wall at the 

 end of the field, followed by the old dog, but the 

 new-comer, when he reached the wall, came to a dead 

 stop, and then proceeded to canter along with his nose 

 down. Afterward he drew out into the middle of 



