-14 HUNTING THE HARE 



few hounds acquire the peculiar attribute of being 

 able to make out the scent along a road, and when 

 a hound once develops this special quality it is 

 astonishing at what a pace he will carry it along, while 

 the rest of the pack follow, unable to make anything 

 of it at all. Hounds should never be pressed in the 

 slightest along a road ; even the huntsman should not 

 ride too close to them, but at just such a distance 

 that he can keep his eye on his trusty road hound, 

 and see to an inch how far he or she carries it. If, 

 however, the master does not possess such a service- 

 able animal, or if even that treasure's nose should 

 fail in solving the problem, his own eyes may help 

 him out of the difficulty should the road be wet enough 

 for the hare to leave the print of her footmarks. It 

 has been urged that to ' prick ' a hare is to take an 

 unfair advantage of her, but why should this be so ? 

 Hunting is a joint-stock concern, to which both the 

 hounds and huntsman contribute their part ; the 

 object is to show a run, and if the hounds are at fault 

 the huntsman may surely employ all his resources in 

 order to avoid losing the hare, which may bring a 

 promising run to a premature end. The huntsman 

 will do well, too, to keep an eye on the hedges on each 

 side of the road, and mark any meuses he can see ; a 

 tell-tale bit of fur left in one of these will often show 



