I30 A Run 



themselves about the field, feathenng up and down the 

 fence beyond. The master's raised hand prevents the 

 field from pressmg on, but the greatest anxiety seems to 

 be manifested by the sheep, which crowd up into a 

 corner of their fold and look on with apparently critical 

 interest. 



No one doubts that the fox has made for the withy 

 beds, but the master is a great believer in letting hounds 

 work out their own problems for themselves, and he 

 shakes his head as he sees his huntsman w^aiting for a 

 signal to make a cast. All eyes are turned to the 

 hounds at the right, where suddenly Dairymaid joyfully 

 gives tongue. She is in her first season, but has before 

 now demonstrated her trustworthiness, so that, though 

 she is feathering down the other side of the hedge, wide 

 to the left, away from what everyone supposes to have 

 been the fox's line, her assertion is respected. Kanger, a 

 grave old dog who hunts with ' the ladies,' and who 

 never makes a mistake, jumps through the hedge to see 

 whether Dairymaid is to be believed, and in a moment 

 he opens out with a warm confirmation. Damsel again 

 lifts up her voice, though she is far away from the drag, 

 and cannot possibly know if the others are correct ; the 

 master makes a mental note concerning her, as he hastily 

 turns his horse's head. Instead of going for the withy 

 beds, as it seemed certain he must have done, the fox 

 had evidently slipped into the ditch, wheeled sharp 

 round, and gone in the opposite direction, leaving the 

 shepherd's dog to run frantically after nothing ; and if 

 the huntsman had lifted his hounds instead of leaving 

 them to help themselves, the wily creature would have 

 been left to pursue his way at leisure, undisturbed. 

 Dairymaid, who had no theories, but was honestly work- 



