THE CHASE OF THE HIND. 187 



hard work the pluckiest of wild animals to the end of 

 her resources, and only killed her not to disappoint the 

 hounds ? Neither of these two explanations is of itself 

 satisfactory. All we know is that on the next hunting 

 day we shall be galloping away with the same fierce 

 enjoyment at the beginning, and walking home (if we 

 kill) with the same feelings of mingled triumph and 

 remorse. I fear if Ferdinand had been an Englishman, 

 Ariel might have led him by the cry of hounds. 



But the silence is broken, as we emerge from the 

 cover once more on to the open common, by Arthur's 

 warning to the whip that one deer or more is very likely 

 to have crossed our path, and that we must take care 

 not to let the hounds break away from us. Almost as 

 he speaks they make a sudden dash to one side, but 

 are at once stopped. "Now," says Arthur reproach- 

 fully, ''haven't you had running enough?" This 

 naturally brings up the question, How far have we run 

 to-day? No one can tell, but all are agreed that the 

 distance cannot be much less than from thirty to thirty- 

 five miles. The furthest points that our hind touched 

 are eleven miles apart as the crow flies, and we have 

 traversed two-thirds of the distance three times over, 

 though never on quite the same ground. "But the 

 hounds," adds Arthur, always jealous for his darlings, 

 " have been a deal further than we have, poor things; 



