WILY'S STORY 53 



on hard flints, as they used to be in upper Hamp- 

 shire ; and, strange as it may appear, in that flinty 

 country I do not recoUect ever having had them cut 

 or made sore by them, even when I was pursued by 

 the hounds ; probably in some measure owing to our 

 quickness of sight, and to our not having to hunt 

 a scent, so that our attention is not diverted. I 

 beheve I owed to these very flints the salvation of 

 my life, as they obhged the hounds to go more 

 slowly over them, and thus afforded me more time. 

 The autumn had nearly passed, and being undis- 

 turbed by hounds, I flattered myself that I was safe ; 

 but my dream soon vanished ; for it appeared that 

 the only reason why they had not disturbed me was, 

 that they are not allowed to hunt in the forest so 

 early as is done in other countries. I was soon 

 alarmed by hearing at intervals Mr. Codrington's 

 deep voice, so unlike the style of the huntsmen by 

 whom I had been hunted in other parts. The 

 hounds appeared to understand it well enough, and 

 as they soon spread through the covert adjoining 

 that where I lay, I stole away to some distance, 

 where I remained within hearing of them. It was 

 a long time before they left the first covert, as it 

 happened to be one in which I had been moving 

 about when searching for food, and consequently 



