17 



learn to steal away after the 

 hounds are gone. Second, it 

 enabled him to get the body and 

 tail hounds out of the covert with- 

 out hunting the line of the fox 

 through the strong g o r s e ; 

 brought the two ends together all 

 away on the back of the old fox 

 — the true secret of getting a 

 sharp burst. 



No man could turn out a high- 

 mettled pack of hounds, and so 

 young a Jot steady from hares. In 

 the year 1859, when the Hatton 

 country was as full as Blankney 

 with riot, we found in Hatton 

 Wood, at a quarter before twelve 

 and in the month of February, 

 ran from fox to fox until half-past 

 three, when all the second horses 

 being beat and a fog rising up, I 

 rode amongst the hounds, com- 

 ing away from Hatton Wood the 

 last time to see what I had got. 

 To my astonishment I found my 



