THE CHASE OF THE STAG 155 



long check and a false cast a deer may be an hour or 

 more ahead of the pack ; and the same may be the case 

 if it be necessary, as it sometimes is, to fetch the pack 

 three or four miles from the place where they have 

 been kennelled to lay them on. This would be fatal 

 to fox-hunting, but it is not so with deer. The scent 

 of the deer is naturally stronger and more lasting ; 

 and the animal itself, finding itself unpursued, will 

 generally, unless otherwise disturbed, loiter after 

 going a few miles. Young deer, however, cannot be 

 depended on to stop, and will frequently keep on 

 travelling for any distance. But in a great many 

 cases a deer even two hours ahead may by patience 

 and perseverance be gradually hunted to his resting 

 place and fresh found ; and there is no better lesson 

 for young hounds than this. The great rule of deer- 

 hunting is "Persevere." Stick to your hunted deer, 

 for you cannot as a rule go and find another as you 

 can another fox. In the hot autumn days the scent of 

 a deer far ahead may be bad, the impatience of an 

 imbecile field, careless of hounds and many of them 

 never near the pack except on such occasions, may be 

 aggravating ; but the day will grow cooler and the 

 field thinner as time goes on, and perseverance will be 

 rewarded by a fresh find, a racing gallop, and a kill. A 



