A CITY '' HUNTING MANr 15 



citing day ; for woodcraft, a comprehensive knowledge 

 of the laws which govern scent (how few of us really 

 know anything at all about it, and how often our the- 

 ories are upset!), together with an instinctive feeling of 

 certainty as to what the fox will do, are, Checkley be- 

 lieves, among his strongest points. 



Thus, when a whiff of the scent has drawn a faint cry 

 from Tuneable, when the rest of the pack have gradu- 

 ally joined in the acknowledgment till the covert rings 

 with melody, when at last the twanging horn and a 

 delighted yell of " Gorn awa-a-a-ay ! " has merged into 

 a chorus of "For-ard ! for-ard ! Tally-ho ! " when eager 

 spirits have charged the first fence and got well on to 

 the second, Checkley's instinctive feeling usually comes 

 to the surface with considerable force. 



Steeple-chasing is capital fun in its way, he admits, 

 but it isn't hunting as the Duke of Beaufort and Lord 

 Wilton understand the word. Oddly enough, too, at 

 this moment the subject on which he is usually so 

 eloquent, the pleasure of seeing hounds work, suddenly 

 loses its interest. All his thoughts are now bent on dis- 

 covering the line the fox is going to take ; and it is a 

 very remarkable circumstance that he never can be per- 

 suaded that the fox is likely to take a line which leads 

 him over a jump. 



Wherever the coast is clear of obstacles, and gates are 

 common objects of the landscape, will assuredly bring 

 him, Checkley feels sure, to the spot for which the fox is 

 pointing. 



