242 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



with about as pleasurable sensations as a boy would entertain 

 upon returning to school late in the holidays, when he antici- 

 pates either a flogging or an imposition for being last of his 

 class. 



I remember upon one occasion, particularly, crossing the line 

 of a fresh fox late in the day, who led us a proper dance across 

 country, then over some downs, and, just as it became dark, 

 into the stiffest vale of our grass country. Stopping the hounds 

 was out of the question ; for some time v\^e could not get near 

 them, and when we did it was so dark that we could not see 

 them, and tlieir cry was our only guide. The fox appeared, 

 from his mode of running at last, to be quite as much in the 

 dark as ourselves. The last point he had made was for a head 

 of earths, which were closed, and being foiled in this, he tried 

 to foil the hounds by short running in some small enclosures. 

 Jim, being mounted on a white horse, took the lead, and 1 was 

 glad enough to follow him, his horse being fresher than mine. 

 Occasionally, a crashing, groaning sound reached my ears, with 

 a loud " come up " from Jim, as he floundered through a ditch, 

 on the other side of a stron^^ bullfincher, with a caution to me 

 in his wake. "Take care, sir, there's a nasty place the other 

 side." We scrambled on in this manner for about twenty 

 minutes, wlien the fox took refuge in some out-buildings behind 

 a gentleman's house, close to a large market town. Having 

 obtained a lanthorn from the servant, we found the hounds in 

 the House of Commons, underneath which Mr. Reynard had 

 ensconced himself in anything but a bed of roses. Dislodging 

 him from such a place, without breaking up the floor, being 

 out of the question, we " left him alone in his glory," having 

 then just twenty miles to toddle home in the dark. 



A ^ood ear is of essential service to a huntsman, without 

 which he cannot be a complete master of his art. When hounds 

 are running their fox in covert, a fine ear will enable him to 

 distinguish the distance between them, and detect in a moment 

 any alteration in the scent. If he is on good terms with his 

 fox when he enters the covert, there is not so much likelihood of 

 the hounds changing, but if with a bad scent, and the hounds 

 sudclenly begin running hard, he should be then on the alert, as 

 the chances are there is a fresh fox before them. A hunted fox 

 will never allow hounds to get near him, as long us he has the 

 power to keep out of their way. The scent of the hunted fox 

 also is very inferior to that of one fresh found, and this will 

 direct an observant huntsman. Upon these occasions it is that 

 the services of a clever whipper-in are of the greatest use. He 

 will get forward to the end of the covert before the hounds 



