Speed Versus Nose 87 



not diverge from the beagle subject; knowing that 

 I never could own enough foxhounds to make a 

 pack, I thought I might some time own some of his 

 diminutive relatives, and I think I have laid a 

 foundation. I Imow it is a long way round, Mr. 

 Editor, to breed a satisfactory hunting and musical 

 pack, but then there is the pleasure of it and of 

 knowing each individual's peculiarity and breeding 

 thoroughly, and the stimulus of overcoming the 

 many obstacles to be met with. 



"I used to like taking a gun to shoot rabbits 

 where they were thick, but it is nearly a year since 

 I had a shotgun in hand, and, with one exception, 

 nearly ten years since I shot a rabbit. I know my 

 friends and acquaintances often laugh at me about 

 getting nothing, but I laugh back. Last time I got 

 a cold, and had to stay indoors two or three days, 

 then they say, 'What do you go in the woods nights 

 for?' I answer, 'To hear the dogs run.' 'Well,' they 

 say, 'you can't see that the dogs hunt,' but I reply 

 that it is to hear the dogs' voices, that musical dis- 

 cord that the bard of Avon writes of. 



"That brings me to those beagle meets. I am a 

 little selfish in making the suggestion, I want to 

 hear the combined music of a number of hounds 

 such as we have here ; some of the stock will furnish 

 the treble, we may get the short tenor and counter 



