224 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



whicli annoyed Jim tlie most was the coolness of Mr. Wiley- 

 jumping into a farm-yard only one field from the covert side, he 

 seized a duck before the thresher's face, who was working in 

 the barn, and carried him off in trium])h into his earth. When 

 I got up, Jim was looking very crestfallen, " He has beaten us, 

 sir, and got home, and more than that, he has taken a duck with 

 Mm for supper." " Well," I said, " Jim, he has shown his sense, 

 for the chances are this old gentleman has been stopped in a 

 night or two occasionally by those idle earth-stoppers, and I 

 have no doubt he has provided against this contingency." " He 

 shan't be stopped in to-night, sir, any way, for I will come to 

 see that the earths are all open ; but I hope the next time we 

 meet, he wont be able to have things quite so snug.'' 



Another duty, and not a very agreeable one, which pertains 

 to a whipper-in's place, is his going out at night to see that the 

 earth is open, where a fox has been run to ground during the 

 day. This should never be neglected, where there are any fox 

 stealers, and there are few counties exempt from gentlemen of 

 this calling. The news soon spreads of a fox being run to 

 ground at a certain place, by gentlemen returning from hunting. 

 The poacher's ears being generally pretty sharp at hearing, and 

 having friends perhaps on the look-out as well, he soon picks 

 up the information as to the whereabouts, and starts for tlie 

 earth to arrive there about dark. In a bag at his back he carries 

 a net about five feet high, with large meshes, so as to admit a 

 fox's head to pass through them ; in his pocketa few horse bells, 

 which, when the net is set up, are tied on to it at certain dis- 

 tances. A low-legged terrier is his companion, and with a small 

 spade or trowel in his shooting-jacket pocket, he sets out upon 

 his errand. Upon dark nights he has a small bulFs-eye Ian- 

 thorn also. 



Arrived at the spot, he examines the earths, and if stopped, 

 immediately opens them with his spade or trowel. He then 

 cuts some sticks, and sets up the net, with himself and dog 

 inside the enclosure, and having attached the bells, proceeds to 

 business. He first tries with his dog, which, if the earth is not 

 very deep, will often bolt the fox without further trouble. 

 Should the place, however, prove a very stronghold, the dog, if 

 unable to bolt the fox, will return to his master. They then lie 

 down together on the sack to the windward t'.de of the earths, 

 and there pass the night. Sometimes the fox will not come at 

 all to the mouth of the earth during the first night after he has 

 been hunted. The poacher then stops the earths again early in 

 the morning before daylight, and removes with his dog and nets 

 to some convenient spot, from whence he may watch if any one 



