HUNTING THE FOX 67 



last resort, therefore, he was asked at least to 

 complete his down-wind circle. Luckily the Fox 

 had not turned up wind, so he hit him off when he 

 had got nearly back to the right of the original line 

 at point B on the map. The Hounds hunted 

 slowly into a long covert on the side of a hill a mile 

 down wind, from which the hunted Fox was 

 luckily viewed away. This gave the Hounds a 

 new chance, and they got on to terms with him 

 and killed him in a patch of gorse bushes after 

 another three miles, the pace quickening every 

 minute. At the place where the check occurred 

 the Fox had probably been headed, turned back 

 on his own line, and eventually re-made his point. 



This is a valuable concrete example of the vital 

 necessity of completing the circle and covering 

 all the ground when making a cast. When a cast 

 has to be made, it must be scientific, and not 

 sketchy. Nothing can be worse for a young Hunts- 

 man than to make a vague drift down wind and 

 then to have the luck to hit off either his own Fox 

 or another one. He will be lauded to the skies 

 for having made what is called a " bold forward 

 cast," and will think he is going to do the same 

 thing every time. Deluded Huntsman ! The next 

 time, and the next, he will get farther and farther 

 from his Fox, and those who were foremost in 

 praising him on the ruinously lucky day will now 

 become his most mordant detractors. " A nice 



