54 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



heels yowling and yapping for all, and more than, 

 they were worth. 



The fun was fast and furious while it lasted, and the 

 manner in which the man of weight rode to the " flying 

 pack " and wheezily cheered it on, in spite of ant-bear 

 earths and other horse-traps with which in parts the veld 

 was honeycombed, was refreshing to witness. At length 

 " hounds " came to a check at the junction of a narrow 

 but steep spruit with the river. Thinking it not improbable 

 that the otter I knew the quarry to be an otter from the 

 way in which the mongrels worked had taken to the 

 smaller stream, I took the Airedale and half-a-dozen of 

 the most likely " hounds," among them the Kafirs, which, 

 although wild as hawks, possessed wonderful noses, 

 a short distance along the spruit, while Mervin tried 

 forrard with the remainder. 



The old Airedale once more proved a rattling good 

 worker, and under the shelving bank he hunted until, 

 with a whimper, he hit off the trail again, and then " hell 

 for leather " forward, with the others close in his wake. 

 With a " halloa " to Jack and the rest of the followers, 

 only three of whom accompanied me, I " footed it " for 

 all I knew to keep on terms with the " flying pack," which 

 ran eagerly enough, and at a pace that proclaimed a 

 breast-high scent. 



Suddenly a loud " Hieu gaze ! " from a youngster, whose 

 long legs enabled him to outstrip every one in the field, 

 caused me to put on a spurt, and, looking forward, I saw 

 a fine otter running under the far bank of the stream, 

 about 300 yards ahead of the leading " hound." In 

 spite of the pitiable pack of mongrels which I was hunting, 

 every nerve in my system quivered with excitement, 



