HUNTING J HE HARE 



desirable event has taken place, an observant hunts- 

 man will soon notice it. If hounds run through two 

 or three gates or stilus in succession, or the hare has 

 scrambled through some thick fence where there is 

 obviously no meuse, the odds are that she is out of 

 her country, and will keep running on in as straight a 

 I me as she can. ^\'hen the huntsman has reason to 

 think that this has happened, he may adopt tactics 

 different from his ordinary mode of procedure. If a 

 check occurs he can cast forward more as though he 

 were hunting a fox ; but he must watch every turn or 

 twist of his hounds, so as not to miss any indication 

 they may give him of the line of his hare. He has no 

 probable point, such as a covert or main earth, to 

 speculate on, as the fox-hunter has ; it is uncertain 

 from field to field which way his quarry may turn, 

 and therefore his attention must be closely con- 

 centrated on his hounds, for he has no other 

 guidance. Should the scent be good, he will pro- 

 bably be rewarded by a satisfactory finish, and in 

 any case, after this sort of run, he should never give 

 it up as long as a chance remains of killing his hare, 

 for she has probably run to the extent of her powers, 

 and will never move again from the spot where she 

 finally lies down. Of course this is not invariabl)- the 

 case ; it has often been practically certain that the same 



