RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



ground, and calculate by the wind, the coverts, 

 and the general aspect of the country, where a 

 fox is most likely to make his point. 



I have known sfood runs in the Shires seen 

 fairly, from end to end, by a lady in a waggonette. 



When business really begins, men are apt to 

 express in various ways their intention of taking 

 part. Some use their eyes, some their heels, 

 and some their flasks. Do you trust your 

 brains, they will stand you in better stead than 

 spurs, or spectacles, or even brandy diluted with 

 curacoa. Keep your attention fixed on the chase, 

 watch the pack as long as you can, and when 

 those white specks have vanished into space, 

 depend on your own skill in woodcraft and 

 knowledge of country to bring you up with them 

 again. Above all, while they are actually in 

 motion, distrust the bobbing hats and spots of 

 scarlet that you mark in a distant cluster behind 

 the hedge. What are they but the field ? and 

 the field, if it is really a run, are pretty sure to be 

 out of it. 



The first flight you will find very difficult to 

 keep in view. At the most it consists of six or 

 seven horsemen riding fifty or a hundred yards 

 apart, and even its followers become so scattered 

 and detached that in anything like an undulating 

 country they are completely hidden from observa- 

 tion. If you do catch a glimpse of them, how 



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