The Hunting Year 



drain. The farmers were determined to see the 

 end of it, and the Master was acquiescent, and 

 so a terrier was put in. But the fox was of the 

 fighting kind, and not one that bolted with little 

 provocation. So his assailant and he were 

 quickly at " fisticuffs," and it soon became evi- 

 dent that the drain would have to be taken up. 

 This was no very light undertaking, and the 

 afternoon was well on the wane when at last the 

 fox was reached. There were signs of battle 

 in his face and he had left his marks on the 

 terrier, and there is no doubt but that the fight 

 had been a tough one. 



The fox was turned down, and not given very 

 much law. And then the unexpected happened. 

 Hounds began to run hard, and the fox made 

 a famous point and at the end of an hour was 

 marked to ground in a strong breed earth. A 

 curious thing was that he was a bob-tailed fox 

 that was well known and that had beaten hounds 

 several times during the past two or three sea- 

 sons; and during that time he had never been 

 known to take the line he did on this occasion — 



a line too, which was evidently familiar to him. 



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