CHAPTER XIII 



A HILL DAY 



*^Hes away for the moors in the teeth of the windy 



— KiNGSLEY. 



THE interest had not slackened, but the season 

 was waning ; hounds were light in condition, 

 some of the four and five season hunters 

 showing signs of loosening of toes and wearing of 

 feet ; earths had been opened for some time and 

 drawn out by the vixens who were now lying up 

 dog foxes were getting scarce and not easy to find ; 

 lambs (the huntsman's bane) were a full crop and 

 two or three weeks old on the lower farms ; scent was 

 uncertain ; the country was hard, dry, and dusty ; 

 and the weather was of the barren and boisterous 

 character common to the period. 



The beginning of the day was unpropitious, for we 

 had I^st a quarter of an hour at the start, and none of 

 it had been wiped off by the time we passed the half- 

 way milestone. Old '' Safety's " jog was rougher 

 than usual ; if there was a loose stone she found it 

 and kept dribbling it in front of her like a footballer 

 till she made her last effort to kick it away, accom- 

 panying this with a grunt and a stumble. 



The last half of the twelve-mile jog was on a high 



moorland road, open to the full force of the blast 



rushing down from the heights ; and as we bent our 



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