8o /;/ Scarlet and Silk 



perhaps, more attractions than foxhounds. 

 To such an one, a blank day is a more serious 

 matter than it is to the votary of the chase 

 whose time is his own, and who gets his two 

 or three days a week. With the stag, you are 

 sure of your gallop ; and in addition to this, 

 the meet is generally at a later hour — an 

 additional advantage not to be underrated by 

 the Londoner or business man. A bigger 

 hound and a bigger quarry, coupled with a 

 stronger scent, makes the pace, as a rule, 

 much faster than it is with foxhounds ; but 

 even the chase of the lordly stag gives way, 

 in point of speed, to that of the gay red 

 herring ! — which, by the way, is not a herring 

 at all, but, in most cases, a rabbit skin well 

 " scented " with aniseed, or other unholy 

 compound. If a man wants pace alone in 

 following hounds, undoubtedly he should 

 place the drag first, stag second, and fox 

 third. But, given a good fox-hunting country, 

 I much doubt whether many people would 

 be found following either drag or stag. " Ay, 

 there's the rub ! " Fate does not plant us all 



