The Hunting Year 



of the season will frequently hold a fox. When 



they do, a good start with him is certain with a 



good huntsman and a handy pack of hounds. 



And a good start generally means a good gallop, 



if not a good run. 



If the season has been very open and parts 



of the country have been very hard hunted, it 



is more than likely that there will by this time 



be somewhere in evidence that bane of the 



huntsman's existence, the outlying fox. There 



is nothing more unsatisfactory than to arrange 



a fixture for an outlying fox ; he is sure not to 



be there when he is wanted, for the best of 



all reasons, viz. that someone who knows of his 



whereabouts has gone that morning just to see 



if he was there. He was there right enough 



when his friend visited him, but taking time by 



the forelock he is over the hills and far away 



long before the huntsman and his hounds are 



on the scene. But occasionally in December 



you shall drop on an outlying fox and have a 



run such as you will never forget — such a run 



as it has been my good luck to fall in with once 



or twice in my life. 



88 



