48 KACECOUESE AND COVEET SIDE. 



not dry. The horseman is forced to place more 

 trust in chance than a wise man cares to do ; 

 and besides this the horses cannot well be 

 already in condition for going. Most of the 

 work is done in covert, where the ability of a 

 good hunter wonld be almost lost, and sncli 

 opportunities as cub-hunting affords towards 

 getting horses fit for the work before them are 

 generally turned over to the groom. 



The real enthusiast, however, recognizes the 

 value and feels the delight of these mornings 

 with the cubs and the young entry. The 

 necessity for rising so as to be out while the dew 

 is on the grass, and before the autumn sun has 

 dried up the scent, does not in the least daunt 

 him. 



Followers of a well-known Essex pack 

 declare that hounds would have met at midnight 

 if the moon had served ; for the master and the 

 faithful few were always to be heard, if not seen, 

 at the covert side, before daybreak, in order that 

 no chance of sport might be lost. To such as 

 these the trotting up and down rides in dense 

 woodlands or over the brambles and bushes of 

 gorses and spinnies are not at all dull work. 

 They do not pine for a gallop across the open, 

 and are more than content to watch the dawn- 

 ing symptoms of intelligence in the young entry 



