CHAPTER XIV 



A FEW HINTS 

 Just hint a fault. — Pope. 



It is one of the most palpable things to a man 

 who keeps his eyes open to things which are going 

 on in the hunting field, that from utter thought- 

 lessness men are continually spoiling their own 

 sport, or causing needless friction, which brings 

 trouble on those who have the management of the 

 hunt to look after. And strange as it may seem, 

 this thoughtlessness is on the increase, and so much 

 so that in some countries the consequence is serious. 

 A very frequent cause of trouble begins on riding 

 to the meet. A cheery band of sportsmen take a 

 short cut through a covert, thereby saving, perhaps, 

 half a mile, or even less. They chatter away 

 heedlessly, and their noise arouses the vigilance of 

 the fox, who has already received a warning that 

 things are not quite as they should be from his 

 standpoint, by finding his earth closed. As soon 

 as he hears the voices of his noisy enemies he puts 

 this and that together, and quietly jogs away from 

 the covert to some snug place he wots of. Then 

 when the covert comes to be drawn an hour or 

 two afterwards, there is a stale line out of it ; 

 hounds run it for a field or two, and then it is 



