36 HOUND AND HORN 



stood up, their tails were tucked tight in, and their 

 ears laid back ; and when we got up and moved away 

 they put their backs up and were ready to wriggle 

 out from below us on the smallest excuse. We were 

 soon all aglow with the canter across the moor to the 

 farm, which we accomplished without incident, except 

 the dropping of Billy's pipe. 



The sight of hounds rushing out of kennel further 

 quickened the circulation, and though old *' Safety " 

 usually stood their onset very steadily, she wheeled 

 with such amazing rapidity that we nearly parted 

 company, and I saw an ill-suppressed smile on Tom 

 the feeder's face. Then reinforced by the two lads, 

 we moved away. 



Full of eager expectation, we jogged along towards 

 the hills, not holding hounds up too closely. We 

 first tried an old plantation of about six acres, not 

 thoroughly well fenced off and rather bare of under 

 cover, and got indications of a cold line here and 

 there. The old hounds had feathered and tried hard 

 to own it from time to time, and were desperately 

 keen ; they had tried every yard of it and came out 

 readily to the voice, a little bit inclined to flash, 

 but we soon had them in hand and proceeded to 

 our next draw. 



Imagine a thirty-year-old plantation, about sixteen 

 acres in extent, of spruce and Scotch fir, with some 

 unhealthy larches and a few hardwoods, chiefly ash 

 and mountain-ash, all lichen-covered and wind-waved, 

 some lying over and some laid flat by gales, of quad- 

 rangular shape, with sharp-pointed corners and slightly 

 mcurved sides, surrounded by an old fail dyke two 

 and a half feet high, riddled with rabbit holes on two 



