142 STAG-HUNTING ON EXMOOR. 



he jumps off his pony, and picking- up a stone by the 

 fence he shows on the soft ground beneath it the broad 

 heel and blunt toes which denote the right animal. A 

 warrantable stag should be, with due allowance for the 

 state of the ground, two inches broad at the heel, and 

 this slot is even two and a half. ** A heavy deer by 

 the look of him," observes the huntsman, catching- 

 sight of another slot in some soft mud where the deer's 

 dew claws are plainly visible. Then without more 

 talking the tufters are laid on the drag, and master and 

 harbourer trot off to different paths. The scent is not 

 over strong, but the tufters carry the line on steadily, 

 and then suddenly one of them speaks and the rest 

 join chorus. But there is no crash and rattle of bushes 

 as when a stag jumps up, and nothing can be seen yet. 

 They run on some little way and turn upward (all 

 covers in the stag-hunting country are on hill-sides), 

 and presently up come a hind and calf close before the 

 master on the path where he is riding. The old lady 

 follows the path some little way and then turns in on a 

 well-beaten track ; it would be no trouble to her to go 

 through the thicket, but then the calf could not keep 

 up. The hounds are stopped without difficulty, and we 

 proceed to draw further on. Again they hit a line 

 and bring it up across the path where the master is 



