

HUNT SERVANTS. 151 



and that is keeping terriers, by day and by night, in the hounds' 

 lodging houses. Those are the little fellows that get into mischief 

 and first .begin a row and a fight ; they are better in separate 

 lodging houses. 



THE DUTIES OF AN EARTH-STOPPER. 



One of the most vexatious and constantly recurring annoy- 

 ances that befall those who pursue the fox is his getting to 

 ground. To begin at the beginning, we will say that the earth- 

 stopper's duty is, after the fox has gone out on his nightly prowl, 

 and before he comes home to his rest in the morning, to stop 

 out all the main earths, and such drains as he knows the foxes 

 use at night. The hour must depend on the setting and rising 

 of the sun at the various periods of the hunting season. Here 

 let us pause to say that the term ' stopping out ' means doing it 

 during the night, and the term 'putting to' means stopping 

 the earths or drains later in the morning, just in sufficient time 

 to prevent the fox getting to ground after he is found. That 

 part of the country in which the hounds are likely to draw for 

 a fox should be 'stopped out,' and that part to which they are 

 likely to run should be ' put to.' It is a good plan and saves 

 time to have packs of post cards with the names and addresses 

 of the stoppers printed on the back. You have then only to write 

 'Stop out Tuesday night/ or * Put to Wednesday,' and date and 

 post it. In most countries, if a man's stop is not too large to 

 enable him to do so, it is advisable for him to visit the main or 

 largest earths again in the morning, to see that no one has 

 pulled out the stones or faggots ; in those in which there are 

 badgers this is absolutely necessary. A small terrier dog is a 

 very useful adjunct to an earth-stopper. In the first place, if 

 he wants to stop a drain permanently it is necessary, on the 

 commonest principles of humanity, to run a dog through so as 

 not to starve to death some wretched fox, rabbit, or cat that 

 may happen to be in it. This saves a great deal of trouble, 

 and the omission of it is a fruitful source of running to 

 ground, for either some mischievous fellow moves the 



