1 62 FOX-HUNTING 



reported him ' very beat/ Such might have been 

 the case had all been pasture, but after two grass 

 fields comes a fallow, and still more arable is 

 seen beyond. After carrying a feeble line into 

 the middle of the field, hounds can make nothing 

 more out of it, and look at you, as much as to say, 

 ' What shall we do now ? ' A bright September 

 sun is shining down on the hard- baked soil, 

 and somewhere in the clear blue sky overhead a 

 lark is singing his morning song in a peaceful, 

 irritating manner. You wish now you had never 

 allowed that cub to leave the covert, for he may 

 have gone on, he may be lying down, or he 

 might have gone back, but in any case you have 

 every chance of losing him. Stand still a 

 moment longer, and let those few hounds that 

 will try, see if they can hit off the line. They 

 flung themselves forward at first, let them now 

 try back as they seem inclined to, for a tired 

 cub will double like a hare. Back on your left- 

 hand a youthful son of Belvoir * Dexter ' is 

 whimpering down a furrow ; but you dare not 

 trust a hound on his first day, and watch 

 anxiously an old one go to his assistance. 

 The young one was right, and the sages of the 



