62 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



and perhaps there is something in that. But what 

 the huntsman really objects to is an excited, 

 holloaing, galloping crowd. When you go cub- 

 bing you should select your place and stick pretty 

 closely to it. By so doing you are sure to see 

 some of the fun either sooner or later, whilst you 

 will interfere with neither hounds nor hunt servants. 

 Lucky for you if the huntsman entrusts you with 

 a corner to prevent hounds getting away with an 

 old fox or to ride the cubs back into the covert, 

 and keep hounds out of any standing corn that 

 there may be about. He is very likely to do so 

 if you have accompanied him in his morning 

 exercise, and if he does you will have fine oppor- 

 tunities afforded you of seeing something of the 

 cunning of the animal who affords you so much 

 sport, and of the fine instinct and handiness of 

 hounds. You will also have some fun if cubs be 

 at all plentiful, and your horse will want to be in 

 good condition, for a well-grown cub will make him 

 gallop his best, albeit he does not appear to be 

 going very fast. If you be a man who observes 

 keenly there will not be a day you spend in cub- 

 hunting that you will not learn something fresh 

 about hounds and foxes, for it must be borne in 

 mind that in cub-hunting you have nothing else to 

 look after but hounds and foxes in the earlier days 

 of the season, riding being quite a secondary con- 

 sideration. 



One of the great pleasures connected with early 

 cub-hunting is to get into a wood where the rides 

 are wide and clear from obstruction. It stands to 

 reason that the man who goes into the wood must 

 not be accompanied by a crowd, and that he must 

 remain perfectly quiet if he wants to see the fun, 



