DRAWING COVERT 109 



spinnies, he will be on the look-out at the further end, 

 and have the sense to take care that when the fox looks 

 out of his hiding-place he is not scared by his red jacket 

 or red nose to look in again. I was once blessed with 

 a whipper-in who almost invariably hallooed the fox 

 back into covert. He could not help it. Jack was 

 composed of very excitable matter, and no sooner did 

 he view a fox than his mouth opened almost involuntarily, 

 and out came the " Tally-ho ! " He knew perfectly well 

 it was against all rules, and he had received many severe 

 lectures on the subject, to very little purpose, for Jack 

 had not patience to view him quietly away, and clear 

 of the first field ; but, as he expressed himself to me, 

 " his heart seemed to jump up into his mouth " the 

 moment he saw the fox break covert. He was undeniably 

 one of the most enthusiastic fellows I ever saw with 

 hounds, and almost crazy when we were running into 

 our fox ; and being in all other respects a good servant, 

 I made some allowance for his insane propensity to halloo 

 foxes back into covert. 



I had another whipper-in, a great slip-slop, who was 

 ever in the wrong place, and seldom viewed a fox at all ; 

 he was always coffee-housing with some particular friend, 

 and of course no fox approached his position. He 

 possessed a thin shrill voice, his rate sounded as a cheer, 

 and he had no notion of getting at hounds, or stopping 

 them running riot. He was, moreover, conceited as 

 ignorant. We were one day, during the cub-hunting, 

 drawing some coverts on the hill-side, where outflying 

 deer often harboured, and I had given him a particular 

 caution about encouraging the yoimg hounds (which he 

 was very fond of doing) without actually seeing what 

 they were running. A deer was soon roused, and some 



