170 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN 



to aid the pack ; as, not being their huntsman, I could not do 

 so publicly. For this purpose I recalled to my recollection a 

 plan I had adopted as a boy in regard to a rabbit. The rabbit 

 was too fast for Grumbo, and at the time to which I allude I 

 had no gun, so artifice was the only thing that could ensure a 

 victory. Frighten a rabbit and he will run for his hole ; in his 

 haste he will not pause to ascertain how Jhr that hole may be 

 open, so I used to stop the hole, arm's-length in, and Grumbo 

 or myself were sure to be at the entrance before the puzzled 

 rabbit had satisfied himself that he could not go farther. The 

 earths were in some of the immense chambers of the quarry, 

 running for hundreds of yards under the hill ; so to be able to 

 stop the foxes from entering, we had to build a wall with the 

 loose stones, leaving only an aperture for the fox to go in and 

 out. I built a second wall still farther in, and on a hunting day 

 I left the usual stop open, so that the fox, as he thought, got 

 safe, but in reality he only got far enough in to keep him quiet 

 till the hounds came up. To this dodge the Dinton pack were 

 indebted for a supply of blood. 



Having always liked coursing from the time of my first 

 greyhound. Fly, who ran so often that at last she would try a 

 hare's speed for a hundred yards, and if she could not turn her 

 she would stop and look for another, the moment I saw the 

 magnificent Wiltshire Downs, I resolved on adding to my grey- 

 hounds. I was then elected a member of the Deptford Club, 

 and never shall I forget the first meeting I attended. Not to 

 be personal, nor to give any offence — I am sure that to give 

 offence is not in the least my intention — I will imagine a meet- 

 ing at the Pig and AVhistle, anywhere in a Do\ni country. 

 The members of the club are expected ; their servants with 

 their greyhounds are already arrived ; the greater part of these 

 servants sit down to supper on hares they have poached with 

 their master's greyhounds at the risk of laming them and 

 making them run cunning, — a friend or two of the respective 

 parties commissioned to keep sober, and, when all are overcome 

 by liquor, or fast asleep, to give to the favourite running dogs, 



