3i6 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



back, snatch the reins from the trembhng bridle 

 hand that holds them, and give just one fling 

 ere he settle down to the task which he knows 

 is before him. 'Tis play to him, but it may be 

 death to some one, horse or man. In crowded 

 gateways and in narrow lanes there is no room 

 for lashing heels or uplifted forehands. Some- 

 times the way is long and tedious to the spot 

 where the tufters stand waiting : sometimes 

 defective harbouring or the restlessness of a 

 disturbed deer may make it necessary to move 

 hounds and field as much as four or Ave miles 

 from the trysting place, and the verv fact that 

 some meets have to be fixed as nuich as a fort- 

 night beforehand naturallv militates against an 

 immediate find when the appointed dav comes 

 round, for there seems to be an irresistible 

 temptation to go and look at or for a deer that 

 is known to be destined for the morrow's sport, 

 and again many deer move of their own accord, 

 or in the height of the season hounds may verv 

 possibly run through their favourite haunt in 

 pursuit of some other deer roused at a distance. 

 Or again, if all has gone well and a right good 

 stag has been found within short distance of the 

 kennel, and has been got awav without undue 

 delav, then before middav, and while horses are 

 still at their freshest and best, the cavalcade 

 rattles out, the stony farm track is pounded bv 

 a thousand quicklv striking hoofs, and the field, 



