SPORT WITH THE BLANKNEY HOUNDS 107 



that covert on the hill.' ' Let me have another 

 ten minutes, Sir Robert ! ' I said, ' and I think 

 I can show what they are hunting ! ' The very 

 next fence w^e came to, off went two couples and a 

 half of young hounds after a big jack hare, in 

 full view. ' Blow your horn Tom,' shouted the 

 master, ' I told you they were running hare ! ' 

 But I had my eye on my old hounds, and was 

 quickly over the fence, for their hackles were up, 

 and I was sure they were working up to their fox. 

 Sending the whipper-in after the hare hunters, 

 to stop them quietly as possible, we ran on for 

 two more fields and I got a view of our fox, evidently 

 beat, for a little farther on he twisted back to the 

 fence and lay down. Hounds flashed on, and I 

 stood still, then they cast themselves, and kUled 

 him stiff as a stake." After talking to Tom 

 Isaac, one felt how delightful it must be to handle 

 a pack of hounds, for he 

 has the art of the conjurer 

 to show you how easy it is 

 — when you know how ! 



A very unusual trophy 

 hung over the mantel- 

 piece in Tom Isaac's room, 

 the mask of a fox which 

 had a white ring round 

 his neck, and four white 

 pads. This fox was bred in 

 Kettlethorpe Hall coverts, 

 the residence of Mrs Fritz- 

 Amcotts, and he was run on 

 four occasions, his age being 

 about six when he met his fate, January 3, 1910, 

 after a long hunting run which finished near Thorney 

 Hall. An instance of a similarly marked fox we find 



The white collar and pads. 



