20 REDPAD THE FOX 
' Ay,' said the other, ' an' he 's as swate on a 
stale line as ever auld Pirate was before him. Hike ! 
Hike to Ravager ! ' 
The hounds hunted almost up to the crag, but 
the morning air was merciful, and drew the scent 
above their heads. However, the yellow puppy 
was not to be baulked. There was a narrow ledge 
which ran obliquely from the ground to the cleft 
where Redpad lay hidden, and up this he climbed. 
Redpad was watching the rest of the pack from 
between the fern fronds, when a joyous bay above 
his head proclaimed that he was discovered. 
Redpad leaped from his hiding-place and darted 
away with the leading hound not a dozen yards from 
his brush. There was no time to turn or try any 
tricks he ran for his life. He led his pursuers 
right across Knockdane, but it seemed as though 
there was a galloping horse in every path and ride, 
and a hound in every brake. In his extremity he 
turned to the moor. He raced up the steep hillside 
through clumps of solemn fir trees, where the tits 
twittered as though there were no such thing as 
man, and through beds of ivy and fern. 
At last the long slope of the Big Meadow lay 
before him, and he gathered all his remaining 
strength for the dash over this danger zone. By 
the hedge stood a horse and rider who halloaed as he 
