A SPOUTING TRIP TO FRANCE. 215 



us by the breeze. Louder and louder it 

 came. 



" By Jupiter !" said I to my friends, " there 

 is my old dog Rappido. I know his note 

 amongst a thousand ; who can have been fool 

 enough to let them out ?" 



The cry of the dogs came nearer and nearer. 

 I spurred on Saltfish, as I felt sure the hounds 

 would cross the riding I was in. In a few 

 moments I saw a beautiful roebuck bound across 

 the path, a hundred and fifty yards ahead of 

 me, and the hounds which I had left at 

 home, close at his haunches. I halloaed in 

 vain. I could not stop them, and their notes 

 were gradually lost in the distance. Whilst I 

 stood debating what I should do, several of my 

 friends came up, and we agreed it would be 

 useless following them, as it was nearly dark, 

 and there were now plenty of wolves in the 

 forest, added to which it began to snow heavily. 

 There was nothing left for it but to make for 

 our van, and when we arrived there, some three 

 quarters of an hour after, the ground was nearly 

 three inches deep. I never remember seeing so 

 heavy a fall of snow in this part of France. We 



