REDPAD THE FOX 
he did not know it, Vix in her extremity had also 
tried to reach this hiding-place, and she too had 
found it blocked. But Vix had been too exhausted 
to run any further and had turned to face the hounds 
in the field beyond, whereas Redpad was still fresh 
and with strength to spare. 
He looked back at the pack working out his 
line in the fields below him, and saw that Ravager 
was at their head. The horsemen had been stopped 
by a wire fence, and were following far behind. 
For the first time Redpad felt a little anxious. The 
scent was evidently good that day, and Kiltorkan 
was still more than two miles ahead. He quickened 
his pace and tried the old old trick of running 
through a herd of cattle in order to foul the line. 
This checked the hounds for a moment, but Ravager 
cast forward, and presently they came on faster than 
ever. 
Redpad was still running strongly, but his tongue 
was out and he was coated with mud. He skirted 
two or three farmsteads, forded a brook where 
he paused to gulp a mouthful of water, and then 
climbed a long gradual slope. At the top he paused 
and looked back. He saw that Ravager with two 
couple of the best hounds was working some fifty 
yards ahead of the rest of the pack, and that some 
distance in the rear rode a man in pink. Kiltorkan 
