HUNTING THE FOX 83 



only averted by the intelligence of one of the Staff, 

 who did not forget to look back. The bitch pack 

 had brought their Fox across the vale at a good 

 pace for fifty minutes, and came to a check in a 

 turnpike road — no doubt owing to the Fox having 

 turned right or left in the road before crossing it. 

 The Huntsman, seeing him creeping up the side 

 of a fence about three hundred yards ahead, 

 caught hold of the Hounds and tried to lay them 

 on at the spot where he last saw the Fox, near a 

 haystack close to the fence. No response. He 

 then held them vaguely on without a line for 

 nearly half a mile, followed by the whole Field. In 

 the meantime one of the Staff wisely reconnoitred 

 the ground where the Fox was last seen, and 

 marked him lying closely tucked under the hay- 

 stack. He was luckily able to send a friend to 

 bring the Huntsman back while he stayed and 

 watched the Fox. On this occasion it is clear that 

 only by a clever piece of staff work was the view 

 prevented from being fatal to the Huntsman. 

 Had he not caught sight of the Fox and yielded 

 to the natural temptation to lift his Hounds, they 

 would soon have hit the line out of the road and 

 worked up to their Fox by themselves. 



Experience should tend to cultivate the faculty 

 of patience. Patience in the face of a persistent 

 run of bad luck : patience at critical moments in 

 the hunting-field. 



