12 HUNTING THE FOX 



drawing again. Some Masters will leave a digging- 

 party and trust to getting back to the earth and 

 killing the Cub later on. If this course is followed, 

 one of the establishment should be left at the earth 

 to direct operations. If the digging-party succeeds 

 in digging down to the Cub, and there seems to be 

 no prospect of the Hounds being able to come and 

 eat him, the whipper-in, or whoever is in command, 

 should have orders to let the Cub go rather than 

 bring him to the Huntsman in a bag. A mounted 

 man in livery carrying a Fox about the country 

 in a bag is not an edifying spectacle ; and to eat a 

 Fox out of a bag on the way home does not do 

 Hounds much good. If, on the other hand, the 

 Plounds mark their Cub to ground after a fair 

 morning's work, then the M.F.H. should not be 

 afraid to face a good long dig. He will blood his 

 hounds, teach them to mark their Foxes to ground, 

 give satisfaction to the Fox preservers, and very 

 likely dig out the earth or drain in such a way that 

 it is safe for the season. 



So much for digging during Cub - hunting. 

 Digging after November 1 is another matter. To 

 dig or not to dig ? That is the question. The 

 general ethics of modern Fox-hunting would seem 

 to preclude the practice ; but the Master's decision 

 must be guided by the scent, the weather, the 

 length of daylight, and the prospective magnitude 

 of the operation. If it is a good scenting day and 



