THE PURSUIT OF THE HARE 215 



him where his hare has left the road, and save valuable 



time. 



As long as a hare runs her usual and accustomed 

 rings the huntsman will make his casts according as 

 his previous experience has shown him the direction 

 m which they are lilcely to be successful ; but if once 

 a hare loses herself and begins to go straight, he must 

 act upon different Hues altogether, and when this 

 happens it is the very cream of hare-hunting, the 

 one thing for which the huntsman is always longing. 



It is difficult to say exactly what makes a hare lose 

 herself, and, as the old books term it, ' make off end- 

 ways,' an altogether delightful phrase, and not to be 

 improved by any modern emendation. If you try and 

 ride a hare off her accustomed route, though it may 

 be occasionally successful, she generally doubles back 

 under your horse's heels and betakes herself to her 

 well-known ground once more. A hare more often 

 goes straight when she has obtained a considerable 

 lead of hounds, and then appears to lose herself for 

 no apparent reason. It may be that a flock of sheep 

 or some galloping colts have met her at a critical 

 point, and turned her into some field which Hes off 

 her accustomed track ; but, at any rate, it is the fact 

 that she generally loses herself when there is no 

 apparent reason for her doing so. When this 



