280 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



like to be questioned on this subject or any other pertain- 

 ing to the hunt. 



Don't ride through any coverts or fields at all in going 

 to the meet. A day's sport may be spoiled by setting the 

 foxes on foot in the very wood the Master intends to have 

 drawn. 



Don't call a hound a dog. There could hardly be a worse 

 offence in the opinion of the Master or huntsman. " What 

 a pretty lot of dogs ! " said a novice from Boston to our 

 Master, one day at the meet. "They are" looking 

 them over critically " the best lot I have ever seen 

 together ; ought to send them to the Show." 



" What dogs do you refer to ? " asked the Master, who 

 was at the moment standing by his mount, with twenty- 

 odd couple of his best hounds about him, preparatory to 

 going to covert. 



" Why, these dogs ; the ones you chase the fox with." 



" Oh, you mean the hounds" replied the M.F.H., with 

 a coldness that would have frozen ice-cream, and with a 

 strong emphasis on the word hounds. " Hounds hunt the 

 fox. The chasing is done by the riders" Most masters 

 are very touchy on this point. 



Neither speak of a hound as being pretty. He is beauti- 

 ful, if you like, but only ladies are permitted to call him 

 pretty and such ladies only as can lay claim to that dis- 

 tinction themselves. 



Don't ride near the hounds. Shun them when you are 

 on horseback as you would Satan himself. If they over- 

 take you riding to covert, go quickly to one side and let 

 them pass. Remember that this is the greatest offence a 



