KATES DAY WITH THE OLD HORSE 229 



" Hurt ? No. Her clever chestnut put his 

 feet into a furrow and stumbled, la belle Polly 

 rolled off, and though we put her up again, she 

 seemed to have had enough, especially as she 

 believed that you had given up the chase some 

 time since." 



" Oh, indeed," laughed Kate, a little grimly. 

 " You see hers was her first fall ; it makes a 

 difference." 



And now the conversation dropped. Each of 

 those three riders had his or her hands full for 

 the time. The fox in front of them was, indeed, a 

 straight-necked one. Save for the one turn which 

 had given Kate a second chance, he had gone straight 

 as the crow flies since the find. Save for a check 

 of a short five minutes, the hounds had run almost 

 as if they were coursing him, and it was already a 

 full half-hour since the find, and the spire of 

 Kempford church was now visible on the right. 

 At the back of Kempford village was a well-known 

 drain, in which more than one stout fox had found 

 safety. For this reynard seemed to be making, 

 and to judge of the frequency with which each of 

 the three horses rattled their walls as they skimmed 

 over them, his pursuers were hardly likely to get 

 there even if he was. 



But between the Kempford drain and him there 



