94 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



cases the fox to be lost altogether. When hounds 

 check it is impossible to be too still or too silent, 

 for at these times the least thing distracts their 

 attention ; and above all things at a check the 

 huntsman should have plenty of room. This 

 seems so obvious that it becomes a truism ; yet 

 day by day and every day we see this rule in- 

 fringed, and it is no uncommon thing to find that 

 when the few leading men have pulled up at a 

 check they are passed by a crowd of eager sports- 

 men who have been riding behind them, and who 

 improve the occasion by riding into the middle of 

 the pack, and probably interfering with their 

 original cast. 



A very reprehensible practice is larking. Neither 

 is it a very sportsmanlike one. Farmers and 

 landowners may heartily welcome the hunting man 

 and yet have a very strong objection to the making 

 of short cuts on a homeward journey. The one 

 is a legitimate pursuit ; the other is neither more 

 nor less than trespass of an indefensible character. 

 One of the best sportsmen I ever knew was exceed- 

 ingly angry if any one did any larking on his 

 property, and I shall never forget how he rated a 

 party of hunting men for larking over and break- 

 ing down his fences as they were going home from 

 hunting, after they had received hospitable enter- 

 tainment at his hands. Not very long ago I was 

 present when hounds met on a frosty morning. 

 The ground on the morning in question was 

 perfectly rideable, that is, the crust of the frost 

 broke through with the weight of the horses, but 

 the frost was so sharp that hounds' feet would 

 have suffered very greatly had they hunted, and 

 probably half the pack would have been lamed. 



