280 THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN 



it was impossible to see a fence. It should also be 

 recollected that when hounds have run a fox till 

 dark, they are not so fresh as in the morning, 

 therefore the difference of the scent tells doubly on 

 them ; but if scent does return after a hard run, it 

 is wonderful to see what courage and stoutness is 

 left in a pack which appeared beaten. And it is 

 one of the most rare events in hunting to see a 

 ■whole pack quite beaten, although to casual ob- 

 servers they may appear so ; but it happens occa- 

 sionally, when they have this appearance after a 

 very hard run and a long check, and have given it 

 up, that the hunted fox has been moved, and it is 

 then seen that those same hounds will run clean 

 away from those very men who were probably re- 

 marking that the hounds were dead-beaten. 



