84 THE LIFE OF A FOX 



head the fox from going to the woods ; but he, 

 poor thing, was in a state of too much excitement 

 to understand what was meant, and even if he had 

 understood, it would have been a fruitless attempt 

 to stop me from making my point to reach a wood 

 or place of safety on such an occasion, even if my 

 first attempts had been prevented. I may flatter 

 myself that a hundred witnesses are ready to pro- 

 nounce it as clever an escape as was ever effected 

 by a fox in similar circumstances. For the future 

 they will not say that a fox cannot run, and con- 

 demn him to be given to the hounds, merely for 

 running into an earth. 



I now made the best of my way straight to the 

 large woods which I had passed through when 

 hunted by the other pack, and luckily made good 

 use of my time, for they came after me as if 

 their feet had been winged, neither road nor wall 

 delaying them. I had enough to do to keep out 

 of their way through these large Avoods, which they 

 traversed nearly as fast as if in the open country. 

 At the extremity of the woods, to my surprise, I 

 met the noble master of the pack, who had succeeded 

 in getting to that point before me, the result of 

 which was that I turned back into the covert before 

 he saw me, and caused a slight check, after which 



I 



