BY INVITATION 93 



burst, he did not go straight, but took to running 

 short, and attempted every known ruse to bafQe 

 hounds, and if scent had not held well he might 

 have succeeded. 



He first tried creeping the tops of the stone walls 

 and lying down on the shingles. He then went back 

 to his kennel and pushed up another fox not a quarter 

 of a mile from where he was found ; but hounds 

 did not change, and hunted him down into the low 

 country, where he went into a cover and ran his 

 foil. At last he made a quick and curious turn, and 

 ran the road for three-quarters of a mile, bringing 

 hounds to a check. Altogether they hunted him hard 

 for nearly two hours, being very close at him more 

 than once. His fate was an unusual one. Two 

 collies and a greyhound broke away from their master, 

 watching from a hilltop, and killed him stiff and 

 draggled on a bare hillside, just short of a large 

 whin cover generally holding one or two of his kind, 

 and not three minutes in front of a disappointed and 

 eager pack, and a hot and sulphurous huntsman. 



But in reality the incidents of this notable day, 

 satisfactory as the authorised programme was, do 

 not obliterate the recollections of the unexpected fun 

 of the morning which is always uppermost. 



Old Batters seemed to think the part he pla3'ed 

 was of the most supreme importance, and on the 

 long jog home repeated it again and again. 



*' They ran terrible fast, an' the mere gaed like 

 stoor an' lap like a deer. A wud stoppet them suinner, 

 but 00 cam till a stane dyke five feet high or mair, 

 vera near, an' the saucy auld bezzom refused it the 

 first time. The callant, puir body, was for pushin' 



