82 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



operation is going on a fox would discontinue to use the 

 earth, but on his return he finds his home empty and 

 swept. Artificial earths are bad in principle ; they may 

 answer in some open country short of woods, but in a 

 country like this, where large coverts abound, they are 

 a great mistake. To turn a fox into an artificial earth is 

 much the same as putting a man into a damp bed. A fox 

 will use a dry drain, but not a wet one, unless hard pressed 

 by hounds, when he will take shelter anywhere. The 

 North Staff'ord hounds one day, after a sharp run, marked 

 a fox to ground apparently in a rabbit-hole by the side of 

 a slanting tree in the Bitterns. Dickins sent for spades 

 and started digging, when our friend Keynard was seen up 

 the tree watching the operation. As Joe Maiden used to say, 

 after casting the hounds all round his hat and not hitting 

 him ofi", " He has either gone up to heaven or down into 

 the earth ;/' but on this occasion he had used a ladder that 

 did not reach as far as he would have liked to go, so was 

 left to the mercy of Stephen Dickins, who (like the 

 fox above described) loved blood, not for himself, except 

 to ride on, but for his hounds. 



Talking of blood, the Covert Fund Committee get their 

 share of being bled. On one occasion a good old lady had 

 a few nice fat ducks ready for market, and, having dressed 

 them ready for sale, took the heads and wings and a 

 few feathers and distributed them close to her house, and 

 asked her neighbours to come and see the fearful slaughter 

 that had taken place. Next day she took herself ofi" to see 

 the late Colonel Reginald Buller, for it was in his part of 

 the country the murder had been committed. With tears 

 in her eyes she told her sad tale, and the Colonel, without 

 further inquiry, paid the bill. Two days later he was met 

 by a man from that district, who said — 



" Colonel, I hope you didn't pay Mrs. So-and-so for 

 her ducks." 



" Yes," said the Colonel, " I did. Why not ? " 



" Because," said the man, " the fox never had them. 

 She killed them herself, and chucked their heads about, 



