150 THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN 



hounds ; others, that they are too high fed ; others, 

 too low ; in short, no end to complaints. But a 

 change of scent does come ; and the same hounds 

 which would not leave his horse's heels, no sooner 

 get sight of the cover they are to draw, than in they 

 fly, and not a hound is to be seen, find their fox, 

 and turn at a word across flints and fallows, and 

 probably kill every fox they find for weeks follow- 

 ing. This again requires evenness of spirits, else 

 the delusive conceit that he can kill any fox with 

 half a scent, will only be the cause of greater 

 annoyance on a return to bad scent. It is not 

 meant that he should feel indifferent whether he 

 killed or not ; for if he could go home, to bed, and 

 to sleep, without satisfying himself as to what 

 became of his fox, he would not do for some people. 

 It is no uncommon thing to hear men who have 

 nothing to do with the hounds say, "WeU, never 

 mind ; we have had a good day's sport. He is a 

 good fox, and will show us another," etc. This is 

 all very well, but it wiU not do for a huntsman. 

 The better the run, the more anxious he will be 

 to kill, or run to ground ; for, without either, it is 

 not perfect, and may be compared to a fox without 

 a brush, — having the matchless beauties combined, 

 and yet not perfect ; for he should always give an 



