MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 143 



after two hares. And now ensues one of the 

 longest runs of the season. Right along the 

 breast of Fairfield — no shifts nor doubles, but 

 straight ahead after the manner of a fox. The 

 hare leads over Fairfield, along the steeps of 

 Nab Scar, to Rydal Head, down into Rydal 

 Vale. The quick ascent over the snow-clad 

 hills from the neighbouring valley has put to 

 test the stamina of the straggling followers, 

 and three only reach Nab Scar. Here, as 

 the hounds are bringing puss back from 

 beneath, we stop to look about us. Away to 

 the south stretches Windermere, with its brown 

 slopes and shaggy copse; Rydal and Gras- 

 mere lie below, while over yonder is Esthwaite 

 and Coniston Water ; then Easdale, Elterwater, 

 and Blenham Tarns. Far to the south, like a 

 flood of molten fire, stretches Morcambe Bay, 

 its boundary hills rolled and lost in cloud. 



Soon the hounds recross the shaggy top, 

 and return in one long line, presenting a pretty 

 picture against the snow. As they take us 

 back along Fairfield, many of them are visibly 

 fagged, and the line becomes long and strag- 

 gling. Here a raven, roused, flies off croaking 

 to the nearest glen. The tracks of the hare 



