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January 17th. — 



This, however, we did, in a bitter south-east 

 wind. A fox found in Clifton Wood thought 

 it too cold to stay there, and led us a long dance 

 over a rough country by Halstock towards Coker 

 Wood, and to ground in a bank. We found 

 his successor in Caswell Gorse ; he ran as if for 

 a big gully leading to Melbury, but, turning 

 right, he went into the heart of Coker Wood, 

 and nearly through it. Breaking cover at last, 

 he ran sharply back to Sutton Bingham, and 

 was nearly caught by the hounds at the Railway 

 Station. Making good his escape thence, he 

 crossed the water and ran back by Frankham 

 Farm to Clifton Wood, where he ran a ring 

 close in front of hounds. But he was too 

 clever for us, and, after a run of about two hours 

 in severe and freezing country, including the 

 fording of two brooks, where a cold bath would 

 have been an icy business, we had to leave him, 

 and rode back home in a frost which entirely 

 stopped hunting for the next three or four 

 days. 



