Old and young Hounds. 83 



hunters could now see the fox, and the hounds 

 came to a sudden check on the middle of the 

 down. Tom Sebright the huntsman, and Dick 

 Eurton the whipper-in, who were considered 

 the two best men in the kingdom with hounds, 

 tried all their craft ; but the scent could 

 not be recovered. Poor Sebright was quite 

 aghast, and said to Mr. Smith, who was at his 

 side during the whole run, ^^ Well, I couldn't 

 have thought that any fox could have run 

 away from such a pack as this !" and he de- 

 clared that he would write and tell his master 

 of it; for stay in the country he would not. 

 Getting a little calmer on the way home, he 

 began to ask Mr. Smith if he could in any way 

 account for their losing the fox. Mr. Smith 

 replied, that the Squire had brought a picked 

 pack of forty couple of hounds, not one of 

 which was more than a four-year hunter. 

 These hounds could race as fast as older 

 hounds, if not faster; but had there been a 

 few six or seyen-year hunters among them> 



