COOL FOR SERVANTS. 239 



" Smoking 's dry work," I said to Jules. " It's 

 my opinion those fellows don't wish to hunt to-day; 

 it will be dark soon." 



" Oh yes," he said, '* we draw here." 



Having thus refreshed themselves, the hounds 

 were at last uncoupled, and went off to draw much 

 more silently and steadily than usual. They had 

 not been long in cover when one hound gave tongue, 

 holding on a line of scent, but singly and without 

 being joined by the others. We all rode up a narrow 

 ride to meet this hound, with the evident desire on 

 M. Brunier's part to see what hound it was ; and the 

 single hound, apparently rather coldly in my English 

 opinion, hunted the line of some animal right under 

 our horses' noses, and the horns immediately began 

 a fanfare, telling the surrounding trees that " the 

 animal was on foot." I saw two or three other 

 hounds coming up to join the one flinging his tongue, 

 and soon after they got together ; and, as all French 

 hounds always seem to do, however slow they may 

 be going, to the ear they put on an appearance of 

 running hard. We separated, as, a shot being desi- 

 rable, I always like to be alone, when, in one of the 

 turns of the run, the hounds went from me ; so, 

 seeing what seemed to be a little pathway leading in 

 the right direction, I followed it : it gradually got 



