RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



usually fails, to make amends for a bad start ; 

 whereas, if you get away on good terms, you can 

 indulge him with a pull at the first opportunity, 

 and those scenting days are indeed rare on which 

 hounds run many fields without at least a hover, 

 if not a check. 



Some men take their station outside the 

 covert, down wind, in a commanding position, 

 so as to hear every turn of the hounds, 

 secure a front place for the sport, and — head 

 the fox ! 



But we will suppose all such difficulties over- 

 come ; that a little care, attention, and common- 

 sense have enabled you to get away on good 

 terms with the pack ; and that you emerge not a 

 bowshot off, while they stream across the first field 

 with a dash that brings the mettle to your heart 

 and the blood to your brain. Do not, therefore, 

 lose your head. It is the characteristic of good 

 manhood to be physically calm in proportion to 

 moral excitement. Remember there are two 

 occasions in chase when the manner of hounds is 

 not to be trusted. On first coming away with 

 their fox, and immediately before they kill him, 

 the steadiest will lead you to believe there is a 

 burning scent and that they cannot make a 

 mistake. Nevertheless, hope for the best, set 

 your ' horse going, and if, as you sail over, or 

 crash through, the first fence, you mark the pack 



174 



