FOX-HUNTING IN ENGLAND. 227 



did style, by the first flight of the field. Soon 

 he crossed a brook which was fenced in with 

 rails, and the horsemen all had to make a long 

 detour, so that I, who had been last, now became 

 first. I had the fox and the hounds all to my- 

 self; my horse was fresh, and the way was easy. 

 My monopoly lasted only a moment, but it was 

 not a moment of tranquillity. Finding an open 

 gate and bridge, I followed the pack into a large 

 low field, surrounded on three sides by the wide 

 brook. The fox was turned by this and ran to 

 the right along the bank; at the corner of the 

 field he turned again to the right, still keeping 

 by the edge of the stream ; this gave the hounds 

 an immense advantage, and cutting off the angle, 

 they came so closely upon him that with still 

 another turn of the brook ahead of him, he had 

 but one chance for his life, and that was a des- 

 perate one for a tired fox to consider. He did not 

 consider, but went slap at the brook, and cleared 

 it with a leap of nearly twenty feet. The fore- 

 most hounds whimpered for a moment on the 

 bank before they took to the water, and when 



