LIFE OF A FOXHOUND 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
WE LAV STRETCHED UPON' THE GROUND, PANTING AND BEATEN 
 
 TO A CRAWL 
 
The 3Uft of a JFojcJounJ) 
 
 John Mills 
 
 Illustrated by 
 J. A Shepherd 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, LONDON 
 

 TRIMBUSH told his story—the story of 
 his life — long ago, and a generation 
 of sportsmen having, probably, been 
 succeeded by another since then, the auto- 
 biography of that old and sagacious hound 
 is now presented to the notice of those who 
 may have been denied the opportunity of 
 profiting either by his sage advice or ex- 
 perience. 
 
 It will be conceded that, whatever egotism 
 taints his arguments, Trimbush was " a 
 shrewd philosopher, having a why for every 
 wherefore." He spoke of men and foxes as 
 he found them ; and if occasionally somewhat 
 too severe upon the commissions and omis- 
 sions of the former, he was equally ready, 
 at all times, to show his teeth to the latter. 
 
 M3J H01.5 
 
1 
 
 y -^ 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 IN COLOUR 
 
 WE LAY STRETCHED UPON THE GROUND, PANTING 
 AND BEATEN TO A CRAWL {Frontispiece) 
 
 "WAR FEATHERS" 
 
 A REGULAR FIGHT BEGAN 
 
 A COOLING PLUNGE 
 
 A BOUNTIFUL MEAT FOR THEIR SHARPENED 
 APPETITES 
 
 THE VARMINT 
 
 THE DEATH 
 
 MARK WOULD OFTEN SIT AND CHAT TO ME 
 
I HAD the excellent fortune, begins Ring- 
 wood's memoir, to be put at walk at a 
 farm-house, where I enjoyed the treat- 
 ment observed to all the animals under the 
 care and protection of the farmer and his wife 
 — that of universal kindness. Sweet milk, 
 meal, and broth were my provisions ; and I 
 never was without a clean, dry, and warm 
 bed. Basking in the sun, playing with the 
 shepherd's dog, following the men at work, 
 and in a complete state of perfect freedom, 
 my early puppihood passed. I mention these 
 apparently trifling circumstances, because so 
 much depends, as will be shown hereafter, 
 upon the way in which we are brought up. 
 I was one of a litter of five, consisting of 
 three brothers and two sisters, and each had 
 been placed at a separate walk ; so that, until 
 we were sent to the kennel to be drafted, we 
 
 Foxhound B 
 
had not seen each other since the day of 
 separation. 
 
 Sorry as I was to leave my kind bene- 
 factors, still I felt no small degree of pride as, 
 on a bright, sunny, spring morning, I was led 
 into a court of the kennel, and met with 
 greater admiration from the huntsman and 
 whips than any other of the young entry 
 therein assembled, consisting of eleven couples 
 and a half. 
 
 " Upon my word," said the huntsman, 
 looking at me carefully from head to stern, 
 " I don't think that I ever saw such a beauty 
 in my life. Such deep quarters, straight legs, 
 round feet, and broad back are not to be met 
 with every day, mind ye." 
 
 "Look at them shoulders and elbows too," 
 rejoined the first whip. 
 
 " And what a muzzle ! " returned the second. 
 
 " Bless'd if he aint perfect symmetry ! " 
 echoed the feeder, after a long and silent 
 gaze. 
 
 " I do think he is," added the huntsman, 
 emphatically. " Or if he isn't, / can't see a 
 bad point in him." 
 
 " That shows what the walk will do," said 
 
the feeder, an old grey-headed man, pointing 
 to four of our company. "Nobody would 
 believe those were of the same litter, didn't 
 they know it." 
 
 But for this I should not have recognised 
 my brothers and sisters, who certainly bore 
 a very different appearance from that given 
 of me by the huntsman. As we appeared 
 strangers to each other, I at once made 
 myself known, and inquired after their 
 health and treatment since we last met. 
 
 "Oh," replied one of my brothers, snap- 
 pishly, " I was sent to the village ale-house, 
 where I had to pick up my own living, and 
 got more kicks than good-will. I was 
 always in somebody's way, try as I did 
 to keep out of it; and the consequence 
 is, I can't run a mile without feeling as if 
 my back's broken. We don't always die on 
 the day we are killed," continued he. 
 
 " As for me," said my other fraternal 
 relative— a mangy, out-of-the-elbow, shy- 
 looking, down-cast hound — " I was tied up 
 from one month's end to another at a 
 butcher's shop, with nothing to eat but the 
 offal from the slaughter-house. I never, 
 
 ,'-73 
 
scarcely, was let loose, except to fight with 
 one of the bull-dogs or terriers chained in 
 the yard with me ; but as I was always 
 overmatched when I fought, and got well 
 thrashed when I refused, the end was the 
 same in either case. The best part of a 
 hound," continued he, "as the best part of 
 a horse, goes in at the mouth ; and as none, 
 since I was a sucker, has gone into mine, 
 I suppose I must consider myself no better 
 than I should be ; and I fear," concluded 
 he, with a sorrowful expression, "not so 
 good." 
 
 "Let me hope that my sisters were more 
 fortunate," said I. 
 
 "We were together in the same village," 
 replied one, "although at different homes. 
 I was at the saddler's and my sister at the 
 miller's, and both shared the common hard- 
 ships of being continually worried by a 
 set of idle boys. Stoned, hallooed at, kettles 
 tied to our tails, and all kinds of tricks 
 were played upon us. Whenever anything 
 eatable was missed or stolen, it was in- 
 variably laid to our charge ; so that we 
 could not even put our heads into a doorway 
 
 M 
 
 % 
 
without having a stick or a broom flung 
 at us. Day after day this was our treatment, 
 and although we did not suffer from a 
 scarcity of food, yet from being obliged to 
 shift for ourselves in getting beds where 
 we could find them, sometimes cold, some- 
 times wet, and no system being observed 
 in either our meals or lodgings, we were 
 seldom without lameness or ill-health of one 
 kind or other." 
 
 My sister was about giving the further 
 details of their grievances, when the second 
 whip, a fine, young, athletic man, interrupted 
 her narration by observing that " he would 
 draft all the litter but me." 
 
 "No, no," returned the feeder, shaking his 
 head. " You'll not find the Squire do that : 
 we must keep 'em for their blood." 
 
 " Come," added the huntsman, turning upon 
 his heel, " they're all in now, and to-morrow 
 will show what are to be entered. We've no 
 voice in the matter." 
 
 "And don't want to have," rejoined the 
 feeder, "with such a master as the Squire is." 
 
 Soon after my entry I was taken under the 
 protection of an old hound called Trimbush, 
 
& 
 
 % 
 
 V 0\\ 
 
 4m 
 
 and the favourite one in the pack. He had 
 been hunted six seasons, and, as may be sup- 
 posed, was awake to every wrinkle. 
 
 " Hounds, like men," said he, one day, as we 
 stretched ourselves together in the shade of 
 a large chestnut-tree overhanging the court, 
 " should first learn their duties, and then per- 
 form them. Now, young-un, I've taken a 
 fancy to you," continued he, giving me a 
 playful flip with the tip of his stern ; " and 
 if you follow my advice you will save yourself 
 many a stinging cut from our whip's double- 
 thong. He hits terribly hard, I assure ye." 
 
 "Does he?" replied I, believing, in my in- 
 nocence, that such a good-tempered, laughing 
 fellow would scarcely brush a fly from our 
 hackles. 
 
 " So you'll say," continued my friend, "when 
 you've tasted it." 
 
 " But I mean to avoid flogging," I rejoined, 
 " by obeying orders." 
 
 " Pooh, pooh ! " returned Trimbush, testily. 
 " Intentions are good enough ; but a fig for 
 orders when the blood's up ! I don't always 
 obey them myself, old as I am. However, as 
 you haven't yet viewed a fox, it's no use my 
 
mentioning anything about the field. We 
 shall begin cub-hunting in a few weeks, and 
 then you will get a little insight as to what 
 you are to do there. In the meantime I'll 
 cut some notches in your memory regarding 
 kennel discipline, and relate a few peculi- 
 arities concerning your companions." 
 
 " Thank you," said I to the friendly offer. 
 
 " In the first place I should tell you," began 
 Trimbush, "that the best step to take at the 
 outset is to endeavour to become a favourite 
 with those in authority over you. This is 
 easily acquired, by doing that which you are 
 told cheerfully, and without the trouble of 
 compulsion being exercised. For it's one 
 thing to disobey an order when hunting, and 
 quite another in the kennel. We all love our 
 huntsman, Will Sykes ; but he is very strict, 
 and never allows a fault to pass without a 
 rate or the thong being applied. When called, 
 walk up to him with your ears thrown back 
 smilingly, and carry your stern high and 
 proudly. Will can't bear a hound to look 
 like a sneak. Don't be quarrelsome at feeding 
 time, or indeed at any other; for although 
 family differences will occasionally arise over 
 
the meal and broth, never be among the first 
 to cause them. I am far from meaning by 
 this that you are not to maintain your rights ; 
 on the contrary, you, like everything that 
 lives, not only possess them, but are bound, 
 in self-defence, to support them. There is 
 as much danger, if not more, in always giving 
 way to the domineering of tyrants as in act- 
 ing the tyrant yourself ; although," continued 
 Trimbush, with a growl at the reminiscence, 
 " the results proved the same here not more 
 than three seasons since." 
 
 "How was that?" inquired I. 
 
 " Why," replied he, " in all packs there is a 
 master hound, who lords it over the rest just 
 as he pleases. Now it frequently happens 
 that this master becomes a regular bully, and 
 so worries and torments his companions, that 
 there is no living in comfort with him. We 
 had a governor of this kind three years ago, 
 and what do you think we did ? " 
 
 " Can't say," rejoined I. 
 
 "Killed and ate him," returned Trimbush, 
 with no more concern than if speaking of the 
 death of a rabbit. 
 
 " Killed and ate him ! " repeated I, horrified. 
 
" Ay," rejoined he, " marrow, bones, and all, 
 with the exception of his head."* 
 
 " Dog eat dog ! " I exclaimed, scarcely believ- 
 ing the statement to be true. 
 
 "It's not an every-day occurrence," coolly 
 replied Trimbush ; " but what I've told ye is by 
 no means a solitary instance, as you shall 
 learn. There was a shy, broken-spirited 
 puppy entered the same season with me, and 
 whenever any of us began a bit of fun with 
 him, he'd shriek and howl ' pen-an-ink ' just as 
 if he was being murdered. This, of course, 
 led every one to take advantage, and the poor 
 devil never had any peace of mind or body. 
 One day, however, when a few of us had 
 pinned him in a corner of the court, and were 
 baiting him for sport, who should step in but 
 Ned Adams, the second whip. How he paid 
 us off, to be sure ! Not one escaped but with 
 every bone in his body aching fit to split." 
 
 "But it served all of you right," inter- 
 rupted I. 
 
 " Perhaps it did," rejoined Trimbush ; " but 
 we thought otherwise, and no sooner had Ned 
 
 * This took place some years since in Mr. Conyer's 
 kennel, at Copthall, Essex. 
 
 Foxhound q 
 
turned his back than we commenced making 
 a retaliation upon the cur who had caused us 
 such a drubbing. We had scarcely begun, 
 however, when Ned again made his unwelcome 
 appearance, and flogged us until every stroke 
 from his double-thong seemed to soak right 
 through our bodies. Before the cock gave 
 notice of the coming day," continued Trimbush, 
 significantly, " Tricksy — for that was the name 
 of the hound — was disposed of so as to leave 
 no trace behind." 
 
 " Eaten ! " I ejaculated. 
 
 " We didn't leave," replied my friend delibe- 
 rately, and dropping his words like peas from 
 his jaws, " even his head." 
 
 " But why was this done ? " inquired I. 
 
 " The simplicity of infancy is truly refresh- 
 ing ! " observed Trimbush, " There's an adage, 
 that a dead dog may tell how he was killed," 
 continued he ; " but an eaten one never can. 
 Do you comprehend ? " 
 
 " Perfectly," responded I. 
 
 "From what I have said," he resumed, 
 "you must now be aware of the policy of 
 neither being overbearing to your fellows, 
 nor too tame or submissive to them. I am 
 
now master here, and this is the rule I 
 both teach and observe." 
 
 " And a very good one too," I remarked ; 
 "but don't let me interrupt you. Pray 
 proceed." 
 
 " You would find out in time," resumed 
 Trimbush, " but may as well profit by my 
 experience, and learn it at once, that most 
 men who go with us to the covert-side know 
 little about hunting and less about hounds. 
 So long as their patience is not cramped with 
 drawing blanks, and we go the pace with 
 heads up and sterns down, they are satisfied, 
 and take little further interest in us. Not 
 one in fifty can tell even what the points 
 of a hound are ; and as for understanding 
 anything about our habits and dispositions, 
 they think that we are as much alike as cher- 
 ries upon the same stalk. So far, however, 
 from that being the case, we differ from each 
 other in every respect as much as man to 
 man engaged in the same pursuit, and fre- 
 quently inherit the peculiarities of our fathers 
 and mothers, as they do. You see that 
 black-and-tan hound basking in the sun ! " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
" That's Valentine. Now, his father, who 
 was killed from a kick three years ago, 
 always trotted to and from kennel just under 
 the huntsman's off stirrup, and Valentine 
 does precisely the same. There's Graceful, 
 a bitch in the next court — she invariably 
 is the first home and the last to covert, and 
 her mother did the like before her." 
 
 "That appears to be innate laziness," I 
 observed. 
 
 "No," replied Trimbush. "So far from 
 that being the case, there never were better 
 working hounds on earth." 
 
 " Then how do you account for it ? " in- 
 quired I. 
 
 "There are many things," returned Trim- 
 bush, with the air of a philosopher, " as clear 
 to our vision as the sunshine at noon, and 
 yet their causes are hid in impenetrable 
 darkness. I cannot," continued he, "tell 
 why Graceful and Valentine should inherit 
 the eccentricities of their parents, but only 
 see that they do so." 
 
 "Are these the only two instances coming 
 under your observation ? " I asked. 
 
 " By no means," replied my companion. " I 
 
^ ^ could recite a dozen others of a similar nature, 
 but I fear they might prove wearisome. You 
 see that badger-pied hound amusing himself 
 by snapping at the flies buzzing about him ? 
 Well, he is a nephew of mine, and makes it a 
 rule, as his father did, to carry home what- 
 ever part of the varmint that falls to his 
 share, and never eats it, unless there is a 
 chance of its being dragged away from him, 
 till he gets to the kennel door." 
 
 " Perhaps he wishes to show everybody on 
 the road that he had a hand in the breaking 
 up," said I. 
 
 "I think vanity has something to do with 
 it," replied imy friend ; " but if so, he in- 
 herits the pride from his sire, just as those 
 peculiarities I have named are inborn in 
 others." 
 
 "I suppose, if these habits descend from 
 parent to child," I observed, " that vices are 
 also inheritable." 
 
 "Decidedly," replied Trimbush, beginning 
 to evince symptoms of drowsiness. " Rioting, 
 skirting, babbling, and all such-like faults, are 
 inheritable, and as much so as the defective 
 points in symmetry." 
 
"It appears to me somewhat harsh, then," 
 rejoined I, "to punish us for them." 
 
 " That's a matter," added Trimbush, " I must 
 leave to be decided between you and Ned 
 Adams ; " and then turning upon his side he 
 closed his eyes, and a deep, low snore quickly 
 proclaimed him to in the land of shadowy 
 dreams. 
 
 I found kennel life at first very tedious, and 
 soon began to pine for the farm-house, liberty, 
 and a romp with the shaggy old shepherd's 
 dog. I became so home-sick at length, that 
 had the opportunity offered, I should have run 
 away; but when taken for exercise, I was 
 always coupled with a companion, and no 
 chance given of an escape from my thraldom. 
 Notwithstanding the kindness of the feeder, 
 in offering me food twice, and occasionally 
 even three times a day, I got thinner and 
 thinner, and instead of the sleek and bright 
 coat which I had upon leaving my walk, my 
 hackles now began to stare and to look 
 little less rough than a badger's skin. Trim- 
 bush, too, essayed to relieve me from my 
 load of misery, and recounted many a tale 
 of interest to wean me from gloomy reflec- 
 
^ 
 
 tions ; but it was all to no purpose. I could 
 not forget the pleasures of home. 
 
 "He'll be right enough in a day or two," 
 said the huntsman to an expression of regret 
 from the feeder at my altered appearance. 
 " Let him go cub-hunting once, and he will 
 not sulk another hour." 
 
 " I believe ye," rejoined the feeder. " There's 
 too good blood in him for that, after he has 
 winded a fox." 
 
 " Well, then," added the huntsman, " to- 
 morrow at daylight we draw Wiverton 
 Gorse ; and if it does not hold a litter, it will 
 be the first time since my servitude — a matter 
 of twenty-five years and more." 
 
But, look ! the morn, in russet mantle clad, 
 Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. 
 
 J I lHE dew fell, dropping from leaf to leaf, 
 and hung on the greensward in an 
 endless succession of glistening gems. 
 The mist floated on a light breeze, scarcely- 
 strong enough to waft the wet spider's film 
 meshed on sprig, and bough, and hawthorn 
 spray. Mushrooms marked the rings where 
 the elves of the night had held their orgies, 
 and the fairy's light — the glow-worm's lamp — 
 still shone faintly on the moss-bank. Like a 
 bride, veiled but not hidden, the young gay 
 morning broke, with a smile, the slumbering 
 hours. Drooping flowers raised their petals, 
 and folded blossoms opened to her kiss. Wild 
 and happy birds heralded her coming, and all 
 things of the day welcomed her. 
 
 ssr- 
 
At daybreak we were on our road to 
 Wiverton Gorse, accompanied by Will Sykes, 
 the huntsman, Tom Holt and Ned Adams, 
 the assistant whippers-in. I could not sup- 
 press the delight I felt in going to cover ; and, 
 instead of the home-sick and sullen feeling 
 which I had had for a length of time, I 
 was ready to jump out of my skin with 
 spirits. 
 
 " Pray, keep quiet ! " said Trimbush, in a 
 reproving tone, as I galloped to his side, and 
 laid hold of one of his ears, by way of an in- 
 vitation to a romp. " Pray, keep quiet ! " 
 repeated he ; " you can't be too steady in 
 going to cover. Nurse your strength," he 
 continued, "until it's wanted." 
 
 " I could race for thirty miles this morning, 
 without a check ! " replied I, boastfully. 
 
 " Pooh, pooh ! " rejoined Trimbush ; " that's 
 the way with you young-uns — all brag and 
 self-conceit ; and when it comes to hard run- 
 ning, where are ye in a brace of shakes? 
 Somewhat in this form," continued he, hang- 
 ing down his head, with outstretched tongue 
 and drooping stern. 
 
 I laughed heartily at Trimbush's acting a 
 
 
 
 hk. 
 
 4 
 
fagged and beaten hound ; and, although I 
 had not seen one at the time, I subsequently 
 learned that it was a very faithful repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 " One would think, from that puppy's 
 gambolsome larking," observed the hunts- 
 man, pointing to me, " that he knows what 
 he's going about." 
 
 "Perhaps he do," sagely returned Tom 
 Holt. 
 
 " How the devil should he?" rejoined Will 
 Sykes. "Isn't this his first day's cub-hunt- 
 ing?" 
 
 "Yes," added the first whip. "But don't 
 you think them dumb animals have a lan- 
 guage of their own ? I'm blest if they don't 
 almost talk to us sometimes." 
 
 "Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Will Sykes. 
 " You're a pretty kind of a Christian, Tom. 
 I suppose, by an' by, you'll say they sing 
 hymns." 
 
 " I don't see why they shouldn't," replied 
 the imperturbable Tom Holt. "At least," 
 continued he, " if they don't, they're a sight 
 more sensible than many of those that 
 do." 
 
" Come, come," said the huntsman, in a cor- 
 recting tone ; " try back, Tom. We shall 
 have stones fall from the clouds presently, 
 if you go on in that way." 
 
 " It wouldn't surprise me if they did," re- 
 plied the whipper-in, as cool as a cucumber. 
 " When so many folk, both gentle an' simple, 
 are building castles in the air, it's nothing 
 but reasonable that some o' the stones should 
 tumble." 
 
 " Ca-a-pital ! " added Will Sykes, admir- 
 ingly. "I like a sharp and ready tongue. 
 But you don't really mean to say, Tom, that 
 you think hounds have a way of speaking 
 to one another?" 
 
 " Yes, I do," replied the whipper-in ; " and 
 have no doubt of the fact. They have the 
 sense," continued he, " to understand what 
 we say to them, and a great deal, in my 
 opinion, of what we say of them ; and it's 
 quite as natural, if not more so, that they 
 should have a language of their own, as 
 it is for them to comprehend a foreign 
 one." 
 
 " Your notions are queer ones, Tom," ob- 
 served the huntsman. " And you'd have me 
 
believe, I suppose, that Ringwood there has 
 been told what he's going to do?" 
 
 " Nothing more likely," replied Tom Holt. 
 
 We were now on the verge of "Wi vert on 
 Gorse — an extensive brake of some forty 
 acres of high but not thick furze, except in 
 patches where it had been lately cut. 
 
 " Don't let a hound get away," said the 
 huntsman. " We'll rattle the covers well ; 
 but be sure and hold the hounds in." 
 
 At this moment Bluecap and Dauntless 
 made an attempt to sneak away ; and, before 
 getting a rate from Ned Adams, found his 
 double-thong cracking round their loins. 
 
 " That's for not waiting for orders," ob- 
 served Trimbush. 
 
 "Cover-hoik! cover-hoik!" hallooed the 
 huntsman ; " Elooin-hoik ! " and into the 
 brake we crashed like a flash of lightning. 
 
 " That's the dash of the old blood ! " said 
 the huntsman, as I rushed through the gorse 
 with the ambitious eagerness to find. "I'd 
 bet a season's capping," continued he, "that 
 he takes as kindly to work as a baby does to 
 sucking." 
 
 " You'd better keep by me," observed Trim- 
 
bush, " and learn a little of your business, 
 instead of tearing your eyes out in that 
 blundering, stupid manner. One would think, 
 if you were not a greenhorn of a puppy, 
 that a dying fox stood before ye, instead of 
 not having so much as found one." 
 
 But I was in no humour to be dictated 
 to ; and in spite of lacerating the corners of 
 mv e y es » ears and stern, I flew right and left 
 through the furze, in the hope of being the 
 first to challenge. In pressing through a 
 thick patch, I scented that which I instantly 
 concluded must be a fox ; and, immediately 
 afterwards catching a glimpse of something 
 spring across a ride, I threw up my head, 
 and made the cover echo as I dashed along 
 the line. I was much surprised, however, 
 that none of the old hounds joined me, and 
 that, with the exception of three or four of 
 the same age as myself, who merely gave 
 tongue because I did, no response or cheer 
 was given to my efforts. 
 
 In a few seconds we found ourselves 
 through the brake at the farthest corner up 
 wind, and in close proximity to the dreaded 
 presence of Ned Adams. 
 
" War hare, puppy ! " hallooed he, riding 
 at me, and cracking his heavy whip. " War 
 hare ! war hare ! Hark back ! hark back ! " 
 
 Learning that I had committed an error, 
 I was not slow to obey the caution, by getting 
 out of the reach of the thong ; although, as 
 I afterwards discovered, there was no fear 
 of being punished for a fault until it had 
 been repeated. Scarcely had I again turned 
 into the brake, when my friend Trimbush 
 gave a deep-toned note, announcing that a 
 fox was afoot. 
 
 " Hoik to Trimbush ! " hallooed the hunts- 
 man — " Hoik to Trimbush ! " and, as a bunch 
 of hounds took up the cry, he added, " Hoik 
 together, hoik ! " 
 
 Galloping on the line where three or four 
 couple of the knowing ones were feathering 
 their sterns and ringing their music, I for 
 the first time winded a fox. Anxious to 
 distinguish myself, I at once began making 
 more din about it than all the old hounds 
 put together. 
 
 " Don't jingle your tongue as if you were 
 currant-jelly hunting," said Trimbush, con- 
 temptuously, as I joined his side. " A 
 
 am 
 
workman," continued he, "never wastes his 
 breath with too much whistling." 
 
 Feeling that there was truth in his chiding, 
 I changed my tone, and gave tongue only 
 when my friend did. 
 
 "That's right," remarked Trimbush, flattered 
 at my observing his dictate : " now you sound 
 like business." 
 
 " Have at him ! " hallooed Will Sykes. 
 " Yoo-oo-it, hoik ! " 
 
 Hounds were now hunting in every direc- 
 tion of the cover; and it was evident that 
 several foxes were before them. 
 
 " The vixen and the whole litter are a-foot !" 
 I overheard the first whip say. 
 
 " Did you view her ? " inquired Will Sykes. 
 
 " Yes ! " was the reply ; " and she's gone 
 away." 
 
 " Then there's a dog-fox behind," rejoined 
 the huntsman. 
 
 " I thought so," quietly observed Trimbush, 
 stooping^his muzzle to the ground, and 
 drawing, with infinite gratification to his 
 olfactory nerves. "I thought so," repeated 
 he ; " a vixen, except she's barren, never 
 carries such a scent as that." 
 
"You know the difference, then?" re- 
 turned I. 
 
 "Ay," rejoined Trimbush ; "as well as if 
 I had helped to break her up. And so will 
 you in a couple of seasons." 
 
 "But how?" asked I. 
 
 " By experience," replied my companion ; 
 " and from the natural aversion most animals 
 have to destroy anything with or about to 
 have young. But come," he continued, " this 
 is no time for talking, although we shall be 
 stopped from getting away if they can get 
 to our heads in time. However, keep close 
 to me, and I'll try to get a bat by ourselves 
 in spite of 'em." 
 
 " Who-whoop ! " hallooed the huntsman. 
 
 "They've chopped a cub," said Trimbush. 
 " Now's our time, if Ned Adams doesn't head 
 him back." 
 
 A succession of loud cracks from a whip 
 followed; but no halloo was given. 
 
 "He's gone away," remarked Trimbush, 
 with glee ; " and we'll be on good terms with 
 him. Stick to me." 
 
 Keeping close to my companion's stern, 
 I ran stride and stride with him through 
 
the brake until we came to a corner of the 
 cover where the fox we were hunting broke 
 away. 
 
 " Now then," said Trimbush cheerily ; " up 
 with your head and down with your stern. 
 Come along, the scent's a burning one." 
 
 The instant that Trimbush was free of 
 the cover, he laid himself upon the line, and 
 raced like a greyhound, I following in his 
 wake. Hearing the heavy stride of a horse 
 in our rear, I turned my head to see who was 
 following. 
 
 "Take no notice," said the old hound; "if 
 Ned gets to our heads — and he'll prick blood 
 for it, I'll be sworn — the sport's all over 
 with us." 
 
 "What the deuce does he want to stop us 
 for ? " inquired I. 
 
 " Pooh ! " rejoined Trimbush. " Rattle on." 
 
 The second whip came spurring on with 
 the evfclent desire of reaching us ; but the 
 faster he came, the faster we flew. 
 
 " Ha, ha ! " laughed Trimbush ; " we'll give 
 ye a sob for it." 
 
 Along two open grass fields we led the 
 whipper-in ; and then, for more than a mile, 
 
 Foxhound E 
 
 - " 5S^^ - : 
 
 0^j0m 
 
 /,'¥,' * ; '*' ; 
 
up a long, narrow lane, flanked by two high 
 banks. 
 
 " I haven't carried a bit of scent since we 
 left the turf," observed I. 
 
 " Nor I either," replied my companion. 
 
 " Then what's the use of flashing on in this 
 way ? " I asked. 
 
 "You've no cunning in ye yet," rejoined 
 Trimbush, " or you wouldn't ask such a simple 
 question. However, so much the better. 
 Craft in the young is unwholesome ; while, 
 if the old don't possess some, they have lived 
 too long unprofitably. Now, we have no 
 time to stoop, and if we had we could do 
 nothing with the scent on this hard, dry 
 road : but having found our fox up wind, and 
 as he turned down upon breaking cover, I 
 know that he will not turn again. We have, 
 therefore, but to make our own cast good one 
 way ; and then, in the event of not being able 
 to hit it off, to try the other to be certain of 
 getting on the line — unless, indeed, he should 
 chance to head short back, which not one fox 
 out of a hundred will do, unless it is to die." 
 
 " But we shall have no chance of making a 
 cast," said I, " with Ned at our sterns." 
 
"I know the point he's making for," re- 
 turned my friend ; " and if we once get clear 
 of this everlasting lane on to the scrubs, I'll 
 forgive Ned if he stops us this time. I do 
 like," continued he, " a run o' this kind. 
 There's a spice about anything stolen." 
 
 Upon coming to a sudden turn in the road, 
 Trimbush all but stood still at seeing a flock 
 of sheep in our way ; who, upon our nearing 
 them, began scampering before us, and be- 
 came wedged together like one solid body. 
 
 "The devil!" exclaimed my companion, 
 making an ineffectual effort to reach the 
 edge of the steep bank, and reeling almost 
 over in the attempt. " No matter," continued 
 he, as springing upon his feet, and rushing 
 forwards, he galloped along the backs of the 
 scared flock ; and, following his example, we 
 cleared the impediment, and found ourselves 
 on the right side of a great obstacle to our 
 pursuer, Ned Adams. 
 
 " Now we're all right," said Trimbush, 
 exultingly ; " and we shall have it to our- 
 selves in spite of 'em." 
 
 The long twisting and twining lane led on 
 to an open heath or sheep-walk, covered here 
 
 
and there with patches of broom, furze, and 
 dwarf blackberry bushes. 
 
 "We'll first try down wind to the right," 
 said Trimbush ; " for although Will Sykes 
 very often takes us just the other way, so 
 as to make sure the varmint hasn't given the 
 artful dodge by slipping back on his foil, it's 
 a bad cast except with a beaten fox, and 
 generally widens the distance between us 
 and him. Always," continued the old hound, 
 stooping his muzzle to the ground as he 
 trotted cautiously along, "try the way first 
 you think he's gone ; and, having made that 
 good, it's quite time enough to take the 
 other." 
 
 On coming to some sloping, moist ground, 
 Trimbush stopped, and, feathering for a 
 moment, threw up his head and made the 
 air ring with melody as he hit off the scent 
 again. 
 
 " We are all right," said he, exultingly. 
 "We'll either kill or burst him to earth." 
 
 I could now wind the varmint with my 
 head stretched in the air ; and it was as easy 
 hunting as a bagman sprinkled with aniseed. 
 
 " There's nothing like break-o'-day hunting," 
 
observed my companion : " the ground is cool 
 and unstained ; and there are no people about. 
 Those terrible enemies to our sport, shepherd's 
 dogs, too, are not often in the way ; and the 
 hundred-and-one difficulties to be picked 
 through at noon removed." 
 
 "But we are not thrown off generally at 
 this hour, are we ? " inquired I. 
 
 " Never," replied my friend, " except at this 
 season. In times gone by," continued he, " as 
 I have heard tell, the meet used to be before 
 cock-crow; and often hounds would be wait- 
 ing at the cover-side for daylight. But fox- 
 hunting, like most other things, has under- 
 gone a great change ; and instead of the old 
 slow-and-sure system of occupying minutes 
 to find and hours to kill, we are now, taking 
 the season through, hours finding, and minutes 
 killing." 
 
 "Which afforded most sport, do you think ? " 
 inquired I. 
 
 "It's difficult to say," returned Trimbush. 
 " Unless we go the pace, men now consider that 
 there is no sport whatever ; but some years 
 since, the merits of a good hunting run had 
 nothing to do with the time in which it was 
 
done, like a horse-race. With a cold scent, 
 stained ground, and an unruly field — heading 
 the fox, riding over us, and hallooing at every- 
 thing from a cow's tail to a jackdaw — we 
 frequently pick through, and even hold it on 
 with extraordinary keenness ; but seldom, 
 indeed, do we get any credit for our pains. If, 
 however, the scent is breast high — as it is this 
 morning, or I couldn't talk to you — and we fly 
 along without a check, for fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, with blood for the finish, then there 
 is no end to the praise, and we receive nothing 
 but commendation and renown. Not that i" 
 am an advocate for slow hunting : — for the 
 enjoyment of sport there must be a dash, 
 spirit, and fire ; and in creeping along at snail's 
 speed there can be neither one nor the other. 
 But what I wish our admirers and critics to 
 understand is, that a fast run by no means 
 shows our qualities, but a slow one may do so ; 
 and often that both our praise and our 
 censure are equally unmerited." 
 
 " Still," said I, beginning to pant for wind as 
 we rattled up a steep hill, with the scent im- 
 proving, if possible, at every stride, " as the 
 old exploded system wanted that dash and 
 
spirit which, you say, are indispensable for 
 first-rate sport, there can be no doubt of the 
 present one being the most desirable." 
 
 " On the whole I think so," rejoined my 
 companion ; " but that may be," he continued, 
 " from not being practically acquainted with 
 any other. At the same time, ' honour to 
 those to whom honour is due ' ; and my belief 
 is that our ancestors, the line hunters, hunted 
 their fox as well, if not better, than we who 
 now race him down." 
 
 " Your judgment's an impartial one," re- 
 turned I. 
 
 "Good or bad, better or worse," resumed 
 Trimbush, " it's no use arguing about the 
 matter : 'tis the pace now that's wanted, and 
 will be had. If we can't hunt, we must race ; 
 and the moment we're at fault you'll hear 
 a dozen tongues holloa — ' Lift 'em hard, Will. 
 That's your time of day. Chink-wink 'em 
 along ! ' " 
 
 " There's no time given, then ? " said I. 
 
 "Time!" repeated Trimbush with a sneer. 
 " I'll just give ye an instance of what may be 
 deemed a fair sample of the patience of 
 sportsmen of the age we live in. One day last 
 
season we had been running a merry bat, for 
 about twenty minutes, as hard as we could 
 split, and leading the field over enough 
 yawners to satisfy the greatest glutton or 
 steeple-chase rider that ever crammed at a 
 rasper. The fox was dying, and, heading 
 short on his foil up wind, brought us to a 
 momentary check. ' Hold hard, gentlemen ! ' 
 hallooed Will Sykes ; « pray hold hard ! ' ' Con- 
 sume me ! ' exclaimed one who had been 
 jamming his horse close to our sterns ; ' what 
 sport one might have, if it wasn't for these 
 d — d hounds ! ' " 
 
 " A pretty kind of a foxhunter, truly ! " I 
 remarked. 
 
 "A faithful description of the majority, I 
 can assure ye," replied my companion. " But 
 I must not lose any more breath in talking to 
 you," continued he : "I may feel the want 
 of it." 
 
 I had already done so, but was too proud to 
 let the symptoms be visible in any flagging on 
 my part. Desirous as I was, however, to 
 maintain the pace we had been going for 
 some minutes, and over part of an enclosed 
 country with strong fences, I began to feel 
 
my strength failing, and the absurdity of my 
 boast of endurance becoming manifested. I 
 now, in spite of every exertion, dropped in the 
 rear ; and although Trimbush cheered me to 
 hold on, I could not but think there was a 
 chuckle of triumph in his oft-repeated query, 
 " Why don't you come along ? Recollect what 
 you said about thirty miles without a check." 
 And then, as if to mock me, the old hound 
 increased his speed, and, upon reaching a wide 
 and level common, ran completely out of view, 
 leaving me alone in my glory. 
 
 For a short time I endeavoured to struggle 
 forwards, but quickly losing the line, and 
 becoming bewildered and giddy from fatigue, 
 I soon staggered to a standstill. Ignorant of 
 my way home, and not knowing what to do 
 better, I gave tongue for assistance, and was 
 heartily glad to have my cry responded to by 
 the loud barking of a shepherd's dog, whom I 
 perceived with his master, in a valley at the 
 foot of the hill on which I stood. In a few 
 seconds he came trotting up to me, and 
 mutual delight was experienced in finding 
 that we were familiar acquaintances, and had 
 had many a game of fun together when I was 
 
at walk at the home of my puppyhood, the 
 hospitable farm-house. 
 
 " What, Ringwood, lad ! " exclaimed the 
 shepherd upon approaching me, and patting 
 my sides, " is it you ? Zounds, but it is ! " 
 continued he. "I'd know thee anywhere, 
 skeleton though ye be." 
 
 For that night I was housed in my old 
 home, and the following day again conducted 
 to the kennel. 
 
 "I wouldn't have lost him for the whole 
 entry," said Will Sykes, receiving me with a 
 warm welcome. " I can't think," continued 
 he, turning to the second whip, who, I 
 thought, regarded me with rather a savage 
 expression, " how you let 'em get away." 
 
 " I've told ye twenty times already," replied 
 Ned Adams, in a tone and manner portray- 
 ing his humour, " that the devil himself 
 couldn't get to their heads. I did my 
 best, and, like many o' my betters, was 
 beaten." 
 
 " Well, well ! " rejoined the huntsman with 
 glee, "it's the first time that I ever heard of a 
 whipper-in not being able to stop a puppy, 
 cub-hunting. Ha, ha, ha." 
 
" It was Trimbush, and not him," returned 
 the irate Ned. 
 
 " Oh ! " added Will Sykes. " It was Trim- 
 bush, eh? It wasn't worth while then, I 
 suppose, to get to the head of one without the 
 other, and yet, if I am told rightly, it would 
 have been a difficult job to have separated 
 them." 
 
 The second whip was evidently chafed at 
 this bantering, and turned away with a 
 flushed cheek, and a tongue muttering any- 
 thing but his prayers. 
 
 Upon entering the kennel again, all my 
 companions came round me, and each, in turn, 
 licked my torn ears and eyes, and were as 
 kind and friendly as if I had been a brother 
 to each. 
 
 " I am glad to see you back again," observed 
 Trimbush, raising himself from a corner of 
 the court, and stretching his limbs. " I began 
 to think some danger had befallen ye." 
 
 " No thanks to you for having escaped it," 
 replied I, somewhat sharply. 
 
 " Oh ! " rejoined the old hound, carelessly : 
 " in a run it's every hound for himself, and a 
 kick for the hindmost. There's no considera- 
 tion then." 
 
" What did you do with the varmint ? " in- 
 quired I, anxious to learn the result of our 
 hunt. 
 
 " Within five minutes of tailing you off," 
 replied he, " I ran him from scent to view ; 
 and if he had not gone to ground, I'd have 
 broken him up without any sharers in the 
 feast. As it was," he continued, " he was so 
 hot and beaten that he couldn't lie more than 
 a few inches from the mouth of the earth ; 
 and there we remained, with our red rags out, 
 panting and grinning at each other for hours. 
 Now and then I had a scratching dig for him ; 
 but finding that I could make no progress 
 for the roots, left at last reluctantly, and 
 pointed for home, where I arrived when the 
 stars were twinkling." 
 
 " Did you see Ned Adams upon your 
 return ? " I inquired. 
 
 " No," replied Trimbush ; " Mark, the feeder, 
 was waiting for me, knowing that I should 
 be back in the course of the night, let the 
 distance be ever so great ; and the good old 
 fellow examined my feet and gave me a good 
 supper, without the least show of bad temper 
 for having kept him from bed." 
 
A REGULAR FIGHT BEGAN 
 
" The second whip would not have treated 
 ye so," I observed. 
 
 " Perhaps not," returned he. " You mustn't 
 suppose, however, that Ned bears any malice. 
 He might feel vexed and chafed at not being 
 able to obey orders, but he always lets 
 bygones be bygones." 
 
 In the course of discussion relative to the 
 events of our stolen run, and during which 
 the remainder of our companions formed a 
 willing auditory, I asked Trimbush how he 
 discovered the difference between the scent of 
 a dog-fox and that of a vixen. 
 
 "In the first place," responded he, "it is 
 never so strong ; and when she has either 
 laid down her cubs, is about to do so, or has 
 not left off suckling, there is a peculiar odour 
 with her which cannot be mistaken. Now, 
 most animals," continued he, "as I observed 
 yesterday, have an aversion to kill those in 
 any of the situations just described ; but I 
 should have added, when the purpose is to eat 
 them. For instance, a stoat will not touch 
 a rabbit when about to litter; but a terrier 
 would kill her in a moment. This is the 
 reason that so few birds are killed whose 
 
nests are on the ground. The weazel avoids 
 the partridge and lark whilst setting, and the 
 fox passes the pheasant." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed I. " Won't a fox snap 
 a pheasant from her nest?" 
 
 " Gamekeepers," resumed Trimbush, " would 
 tell you, 'Always when an opportunity 
 presents itself ' ; but I know better. A vixen, 
 with a large litter, and food scanty, will 
 do so now and then, I don't deny ; but what 
 does she get? Skin, bone, and feathers — 
 a most unsavoury morsel, for which the cubs 
 will scarcely care to fight. The mother 
 knows this well enough, and, unless driven 
 to extremities, never takes any kind of bird 
 from her nest." 
 
 " The farmer's wife tells a different story," 
 I observed. 
 
 " The farmer's wife, like the gamekeeper, 
 is a sworn enemy to foxes," returned Trim- 
 bush, "and with equally groundless cause. 
 If a single head of poultry is missed, the 
 robbery is always ascribed to a fox, and, 
 however devoid of foundation, never for- 
 gotten. The old trot dates her subsequent 
 life from the event, and begins her tale with, 
 
A 
 
 <7J 
 
 'About six months after the fox took my 
 duck,' and so keeps the matter fresh and 
 vivid to the end of her days." 
 
 "One would think you were a preserver 
 instead of a killer of foxes," said I. 
 
 "Ay," rejoined the speaker; "if it was 
 not for preserving, we should have no 
 opportunities of killing." 
 
 ^V" 
 
11 In the barn the tenant-cock, 
 Close to partlet, perched on high, 
 Briskly crows (the shepherd's clock), 
 Jocund, that the morning's nigh." 
 
 WITH a yawn, a stretch, and a shake, 
 Trimbush completed his toilet one 
 misty morning, just as a neighbour- 
 ing cock had thrice thrown his chivalrous 
 challenge on the breeze, and invited me, with 
 a crack of his stern across my muzzle, to 
 follow his early example of industry. 
 
 " Come," said he ; " it's time to be awake 
 and stirring. How do ye fare?" 
 
 " Hearty and hungry," replied I, reluctantly 
 arousing myself from a dream of enjoyment. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed Trimbush. " You'll 
 have to wait, then," continued he, " till sunset 
 for a meal, unless you earn a share for your- 
 self." 
 
v/] 
 
 " How so ? " inquired I. 
 
 "This will be the first meet o' the season, 
 and your first day of regular work. Mind," 
 said Trimbush, admonishingly, as he showed 
 a long row of very white and strong teeth, 
 " to let me see that you have profited by my 
 lessons and the experience you've had in 
 cub-hunting, or your jacket may be well 
 shaken when least expected." 
 
 " You needn't begin to threaten," rejoined 
 I, somewhat indignantly, " without any cause. 
 A rate's well enough," I continued, " when 
 a fault is committed ; but there's no occasion 
 to meet it half-way." 
 
 "True," returned Trimbush, "quite true; 
 and your remark only proves that a young 
 head may sometimes correct an old tongue, 
 despite what may be said to the contrary. 
 One of the greatest faults with all whippers- 
 in," resumed he, "is the rating us in anti- 
 cipation of our doing wrong ; or, after 
 committing it, before soaking in the double- 
 thong ; whereas, they should wait until the 
 cause is given, and then — after blistering us 
 with the flax — proceed to lecture upon the 
 impropriety of the conduct. It's quite 
 
remarkable what effect a sound drubbing has 
 upon the memory." 
 
 " I shall not forget the first I received," ob- 
 served I. 
 
 " But you'll never repeat that riot," signifi- 
 cantly returned Trimbush. " It was a christen- 
 ing not to slip through the memory as if it had 
 no knots tied in it." 
 
 " But then," added I, " in coming across the 
 slot of deer, the scent was so sweet and grate- 
 ful that I couldn't refrain from carrying a 
 head." 
 
 " Well," said Trimbush, " like luxuries of 
 other descriptions, you paid for the enjoy- 
 ment." 
 
 " And dear as the cost was," replied I, " it's 
 very doubtful whether I might not be inclined 
 to have another flutter at the same feather." 
 
 " What ! swallow a hackle of the dog that 
 bit ye?" rejoined my friend. 
 
 "It's a common case, I've heard, with our 
 betters," returned I, 
 
 " Right again," added my companion. " Fire 
 puts out fire." 
 
 "I suppose," oberved I, "that you've felt, 
 before now, an inclination to repeat an error, 
 
convinced as ye may have been of its impro- 
 priety." 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed Trimbush, drawing in the 
 breath between his teeth with a hissing sound ; 
 " that I have. We are as clannish as Scots- 
 men, and support each other through thick 
 and thin, in the same mortar-an'-brick fashion. 
 If one of us is a marked and confirmed rebel, 
 he seldom repeats his fault without lots of 
 company to back him. The season before last, 
 a hound was sent here from the north country, 
 and as sulky and ill-tempered a brute as was 
 ever seen in a kennel. We all hated him ; and 
 yet, strange as it may appear, upon Ned 
 Adams attempting to drive him from the 
 lodging-house one morning, in consequence 
 of his refusal to come when called, he flew at 
 him, and, fastening upon his shoulder, was 
 instantly joined by half the hounds in the 
 court." 
 
 "I can't understand that," replied I. 
 
 " The cause lies in our blood and bone," re- 
 joined my friend. " The impulse with us," 
 continued he, " is paramount — to follow the 
 leader however wrong he may be in his 
 example." 
 
" And what was the finish of this attack on 
 Ned Adams?" inquired I. 
 
 " But for his lusty lungs for help," replied 
 Trimbush, " it might have gone hard with him. 
 However, Will Sykes, Tom Holt, and old Mark 
 quickly made their appearance, and put an 
 end to the fray with little difficulty. As for 
 our new companion, we never saw him 
 afterwards." 
 
 " He was sent away, I suppose ? " re- 
 marked I. 
 
 " Yes," returned Trimbush, " to dance in the 
 air with a hempen cord round his throttle." 
 
 " And no wonder, either," added I, " for such 
 an offence." 
 
 " Breaking up a whipper-in is certainly no 
 joke," said my companion. "But there was 
 one picked as clean as ivory once, without any 
 unpleasant interruption to the spread." 
 
 " Gracious powers ! " ejaculated I, " what do 
 you mean ? " 
 
 "Simply what I have said," replied Trim- 
 bush, licking his jaws with a peculiar relish, 
 and coolly adding, "I had a hand in the 
 supper." 
 
 " You ? " I exclaimed. 
 
" Listen," returned the old hound, checking 
 my impetuosity, " and you shall hear. I was 
 not bred in this kennel, but came from the west 
 at the end of my first season. It so happened 
 that about the middle of this season, and 
 when all of us were full of fire and devilry, 
 our regular whipper-in died, and his place 
 became filled by a perfect stranger to us. His 
 cottage being within a short distance, he could 
 hear any quarrel or disturbance, and was ready 
 to quell it at a moment's notice. Trifles light 
 as air, I've heard, will frequently cause the 
 most vital consequences ; and such was the 
 case that I am alluding to. A ray of the 
 moon, streaming through a chink in the door 
 of our lodging-house, occasioned a hound of 
 the name of Restless to bay it. This broke 
 the sleep of all ; and in a few minutes a 
 regular fight began, each running a-muck 
 and attacking friend and foe with equal want 
 of consideration. In order to quell the row, 
 the whipper-in made his appearance amongst 
 us, as he quitted his bed, undressed ; but 
 scarcely had he lifted the latch of the entrance, 
 when — not recognising his voice or his person 
 — he was seized by the throat ; and, before the 
 
morning light, there was nothing left but a 
 cleanly picked skeleton." 
 
 " I'm not surprised at his death, under the 
 circumstances," rejoined I ; " but to eat him ! " 
 
 " In my opinion," added Trimbush, " that 
 was the most innocent part of the affair." 
 
 " And how," said I, curious to learn further 
 particulars, " how did he taste ? " 
 
 " Take my word for it," replied the old 
 hound, in a tone and manner conveying much 
 conviction of the correctness of the assertion, 
 " take my word for it," repeated he, " that 
 with a little broth, daintier food could not 
 be eaten." 
 
 "Who was the first to discover the re- 
 mains ? " 
 
 " Our feeder," returned he. 
 
 " And what did he say ? " 
 
 "Well!" added Trimbush, scratching an 
 ear with his off hind foot, as if it tickled with 
 the reminiscence which the question created, 
 " I should observe, in the first place," 
 continued he, " that Harry Bolton, our 
 feeder, was one of the coolest fellows that 
 ever boiled a copper of kit, and never known 
 to exhibit the slightest astonishment at any- 
 
 W_£&c/ 
 
thing. Whenever he read an astounding 
 piece of news in the County Chronicle — 
 natural phenomenon, accident, or offence, or 
 anything sufficient to cause the generality 
 of his neighbours' hair to stand on end 
 was related to him — his short, unchanging 
 observation was, ' Shouldn't wonder ! ' How- 
 ever, thought I, the ice of your surprise will 
 be broken at last." 
 
 " And was it ? " inquired I. 
 
 " You shall hear," resumed Trimbush. 
 " When Harry came to the kennel, as was 
 his wont just at break o' day, and his eyes 
 fell on the white bones of the unfortunate 
 whipper-in spread upon the ground, he con- 
 tinued puffing a short black pipe, constantly 
 between his lips, for a few seconds in silence, 
 and then taking it from them with a slow, 
 deliberate movement, ejaculated, ' Shouldn't 
 wonder ! D — n me if they an't hashed the 
 whip ! ' " 
 
 " And was that all he said ? " I asked. 
 
 " Every word," returned my companion. 
 
 At this moment Will Sykes arrived mounted, 
 accompanied by the two whippers-in ; and to 
 his order, Mark threw back the door of the 
 
court upon its hinges, and out we rushed with 
 a chorus of merry tongues ringing for our 
 freedom, and the joy that we knew to be in 
 store for us. 
 
 "Unkennelling hounds," remarked Trim- 
 bush, as we trotted along the road, side by 
 side, "is one great illustrative fact of the 
 difference between high-bred and low-bred 
 animals. A puddle-blooded mongrel, or one 
 of low caste, licks and fondles only the hand 
 that gives him food ; but we, and all possess- 
 ing similar tendencies, love him and those 
 who show and give us sport. See the differ- 
 ence with which we hail our feeder's appear- 
 ance, and that of our huntsman. We have 
 affection for both : but there is no comparison 
 between either the kind or strength of the 
 feeling." 
 
 " We may like Will, too, all the better," I 
 observed, " on account of his not flogging us." 
 
 " A huntsman should never use the thong," 
 replied my companion. " It should be his 
 study to be on such terms of friendship and 
 good-will with his pack, that each hound is 
 ready to fly to his voice like a bird to her 
 nest ; and among the varied tempers and dis- 
 
positions which he has to deal with, this is 
 impossible if he unites with his office the 
 duties of whip." 
 
 " I always feel inclined to head just the 
 other way when I hear Ned Adams," ob- 
 served I. 
 
 "To be sure," returned Trimbush. "The 
 thrashed hound fears the whip ; and getting 
 away to his cry of ' f or'ard ' is as essential 
 as obeying the huntsman's horn ; but the 
 feelings for the two are far from being akin." 
 
 We now turned a sharp angle in the lane, 
 down which we were gently trotting : and 
 on a large open piece of waste ground — the 
 coarse grass, patches of thistles and rushes, 
 being cropped by a few donkeys and a flock 
 of desolate-looking geese — my eyes first saw 
 the assembled members of " our hunt." 
 
 Deny it who will — it is a heart-stirring, 
 gladsome, inspiring, English sight, to witness 
 a country gentleman and popular master in 
 the field. There are his friends and neigh- 
 bours, his tenants and yeomen, stout and 
 true, his servants and dependents, met 
 together for a noble amusement, and one 
 which unites them in the bond of goodly 
 
fellowship. It has been well observed, "What 
 is a gentleman without his recreations ? " and, 
 to alter the query slightly, it might be said, 
 " What is a country gentleman unless he be 
 a sports?nan ? " Like a fish out of water, a 
 bull in a china-shop, a bear in a tea-garden, 
 or anything else strangely awkward and 
 much out of his element. 
 
 There they were, in showy red and Lincoln 
 green, in leather, cords, and kersey drabs ; 
 white tops, brown, and black ; hats, caps, 
 and thatch ; some mounted and some afoot. 
 From the high-mettled hunter with his shot- 
 silk and glistening coat, to the rough and 
 shaggy tailor's pony ; in short, all sizes, 
 shapes, colours, and conditions, might be 
 seen congregated, expectant, and prepared 
 for our arrival. 
 
 " Here they are ! " shouted an urchin, 
 perched on the topmost limb of a tree. 
 " Here they are ! " repeated he, hallooing to 
 the stretch of his lungs ; and then a whoop- 
 ing crew of his fellows took up the cry, 
 making the welkin echo with their din. 
 
 " Your servant, gentlemen," said Will 
 Sykes, touching the peak of his cap ; and 
 
 V 
 
during a short delay, waiting the arrival 
 of the Squire, he proceeded to point out the 
 young hounds, making me an especial object 
 of notice. 
 
 " What's his pedigwee ? " lisped a pale-faced 
 gentleman in spectacles, famous for riding 
 hard along roads and over nothiug but 
 hounds at check. 
 
 " By Osbaldeston's Furrier out of Crafty, 
 sir," replied the huntsman. 
 
 " By Fuvvier out of Quafty ! " repeated the 
 interrogator. 
 
 "Yes," rejoined Will; "and I'm much mis- 
 taken if he doesn't equal the celebrity of his 
 father." 
 
 " What do you call him ? " further inquired 
 he of the ghostly countenance. 
 
 " Ringwood, sir," returned the huntsman. 
 
 " Wingwood, eh ? " added the questioner. 
 
 "That's one of the sort," said Trimbush 
 to me, " I was mentioning some time ago. 
 He comes out just to show himself and have 
 an excuse for wearing a red coat ; but as for 
 taking any interest in either the sport or us 
 he fears the one and knows nothing of the 
 other. A man, from age or other causes, may 
 
be unable to ride straight and live with us, 
 and yet take as much pleasure in joining 
 the meet, nicking in, and pottering on to the 
 end of a run, as those who are in the first 
 flight from the find to the finish ; but I am 
 certain, from what I have seen, that if a 
 man is so naturally timid as to be afraid to 
 ride to hounds, he can never be — in the sense 
 of the word — a foxhunter." 
 
 " And who is he ? " I asked, pointing to a 
 thick-set and jolly-looking man in a green 
 coat, and occupied in the act of taking up 
 the girths of his saddle. 
 
 "A very different description of sports- 
 man," replied Trimbush ; " that's farmer 
 Stockdale, a tenant of the Squire's, who has 
 forgotten more about hounds and hunting 
 than the majority of men ever learn. You 
 see," he continued, " that he's making a care- 
 ful examination of his horse, and the few 
 alterations necessary, whilst there is plenty 
 of time ; as none but the greenhorns leave 
 them to the last moment. I remember a 
 man, upon one occasion, tightening a curb- 
 chain at the moment we unkennelled our fox ; 
 and such were the impatient plunges of his 
 
horse, that he could not mount him again 
 in time to get away with us, and he never 
 saw an inch of the run — long and gallant as 
 it proved." 
 
 My attention being turned to a young man 
 superbly mounted, and dressed with the most 
 scrupulous care, I inquired of my companion 
 if he was one of the timid school. 
 
 " No," rejoined Trimbush ; " that he is not. 
 From the delicate look of his boots, breeches 
 and gloves, one might feel disposed to 
 imagine that he was not in the habit of 
 dirtying them ; but so far from that being 
 the case, he is not only the boldest but the 
 best rider in the hunt — for the two do not 
 always go together. It used to be thought," 
 continued lie, " by men of the old school, that 
 a white top was the certain mark of a he- 
 haw, know-nothing, gal-drawing, watering- 
 place snob ; but I have no hesitation in saying 
 that the white tops of the present day could 
 show the dark and mahogany ones their heels 
 without the slightest difficulty, or more than 
 ordinary exertion." 
 
 "You think, then, that men ride bolder 
 and better now ? " I remarked. 
 
" Without a doubt of it," replied Trimbush. 
 "The stamp of horse — thorough-bred and 
 up to the mark in condition — the pace we 
 go, and the modern style of racing a fox 
 down, require both bolder and better riding 
 than in the days when they found him at 
 cock-crow and killed him at noon. Not only 
 is courage indispensable to be near the 
 'sinking one,' but hands, head, and heels 
 must be exercised with the best of judgment. 
 I grin," continued he, "to see a first-flight 
 man, after a fifteen minutes' burst, blown 
 to a standstill ; while farmer Stockdale gives 
 him the go-by with his goose-rumped, short- 
 legged, long-necked nag, just in the wind." 
 
 "And does that often take place?" I 
 inquired. 
 
 "Very frequently," replied my companion. 
 " Head and hands will beat heels all the 
 world over." 
 
 At this moment the Squire came trotting 
 briskly up on his hack ; and as he rode through 
 the throng, hats were lifted and salutations 
 exchanged. Our master, be it remembered, 
 although an Old English gentleman, was 
 not a gentleman of the old school. He 
 
neither swore the roundest oaths, nor horse- 
 whipped those whom he dared or could 
 afford to pay ; he boasted not of the number 
 of bottles it took to make him oblivious of 
 sublunary matters, or laughed only at the 
 practical joke and coarsest jest. His object 
 was not to be the oracle of grooms and 
 stable-boys, or the subject of discussion in 
 the village tap-room. With an affable 
 bearing, he possessed a kind and generous 
 disposition, and a heart more ready to be- 
 friend the deserving and destitute than to 
 check the impostor and depraved. His house 
 was one wherein hospitality reigned the 
 seasons round ; and it mattered not who 
 were the guests, a hearty welcome awaited 
 each and all. In the pursuit, too, of his 
 favourite sport, he never permitted an injury 
 to pass unrecompensed, although careful 
 that no false application should succeed. Not 
 a gate nor a bar was broken, a head of 
 poultry lost suspiciously, or the most trifling 
 damage done, but what, instantly and 
 liberally, amends were made. Sternly dis- 
 countenancing all unfair riding over wheat, 
 young grass, and layers, he was regarded 
 
by the farmers as a friend to their interests ; 
 and so far from objecting to a fixture in 
 their neighbourhood, they were glad when 
 it came to their turn. By proper and simply 
 judicious means the end is always attainable ; 
 and if those masters of hounds who complain 
 of a dearth of foxes, and opposition to their 
 sport, would but take a memorandum out 
 of the note-book of " our Squire," many a 
 blank day might be rendered as fruitful as 
 the vine " clustering with a thousand rings." 
 
V 
 
 For easy the lesson of the youthful train 
 
 When instinct prompts, and when example guides." 
 
 I 
 
 HOPE I'm to my time," said the Squire, 
 pulling out his watch. "Yes," con- 
 tinued he, glancing at the dial, "to a 
 minute." 
 
 Immediately after the Squire's arrival, we 
 were thrown into the cover, and, when 
 about the middle of it, I saw Trimbush 
 feather his stern, and before I could reach 
 him he threw his tongue, and, as he did 
 so, Will Sykes gave a cheer which Echo 
 took pleasure to repeat. 
 
 "Hark to Trimbush! Hark to Trimbush! 
 Have at him ! Whoop ! " 
 
 We clustered to him, and, poking my nose 
 to the ground, I drew in a scent which 
 made every hackle on my body stiffen with 
 delight. Up went my head, and forth I 
 
sent some music that came from my very- 
 heart. 
 
 " See that puppy," said the Squire. " How 
 he loves it!" 
 
 " Have at him, Ringwood ! " hallooed the 
 huntsman, rising in his stirrups. "Have at 
 him, good hound ! " and then, turning to the 
 Squire, I heard him remark, "He's a perfect 
 wonder, sir." 
 
 "Yes," was the reply, "he's the most pro- 
 mising I have ever seen." 
 
 We now got to our fox in a body, and 
 crashed him through the cover. Full swing 
 we flew, and, as we swept out of the furze, I 
 was astonished to lose the scent which we had 
 carried so strong up to the corner of the 
 brake, and flung myself here and there to pick 
 it up again. Most of us were sorely puzzled 
 for a few seconds, when Trimbush, after 
 stooping his nose to the ground for some 
 distance, down wind and up, along the verge 
 of the cover, said to me, " The artful dodger's 
 slipped back, and shot into the brake again." 
 
 " Tally-ho ! tally-ho ! Gone away!" hallooed 
 a voice from the farthest end of the cover. 
 
 " I told you so," said Trimbush. " We were 
 
too close to him, and he headed back to make 
 the distance greater at the burst." 
 
 I now sniffed the scent again, and, thinking 
 I was showing off, made as much noise as I 
 possibly could. 
 
 " Keep your tongue still," snapped Trim- 
 bush. "Like most puppies, two-legged and 
 four, if they possess a good voice, they seldom 
 exhibit equal good sense in using it." 
 
 Twing, twing, twang, twa — a — ng ! went 
 Will Sykes's horn, as he jammed his horse 
 through bush and brier. 
 
 " For'ard, f or'ard ! " shouted Tom Holt. 
 "Get to him, hounds, get to him." 
 
 "Come along," said Trimbush. "Stick to 
 me." 
 
 " What a clean, fine, lengthy fellow he is ! " 
 I heard some one remark. " His point's 
 Picton Brake." 
 
 "Yes," replied another. "His brush must 
 be two feet : and what a snowy tag to it ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! " observed Trimbush. " Then 
 we'll give it such a dusting as to change its 
 colour pretty quickly." 
 
 A bunch of old hounds flew out of cover 
 with us, and, taking up the scent, away we 
 
rattled in a body, as close as a swarm 
 bees. 
 
 " They won't over-ride us to-day," re- 
 marked I. 
 
 "Not if the scent lasts as good as it is," 
 replied Trimbush ; " but that's doubtful." 
 
 For fifteen minutes we burst him along as 
 hard as we could split. The day was fine and 
 warm, and, sinking the wind, the pace began 
 to tell most terribly upon some of us young 
 ones. 
 
 " I feel very choky," said I, doing my best 
 to keep my place. 
 
 " Hold on," returned Trimbush. " He must 
 have crossed the Kulm stream, and there we 
 shall get a cooling plunge." 
 
 In a handful of seconds we neared the 
 water, and dashed into it with as much 
 delight as a flock of thirsty ducks. 
 
 " Now," said Trimbush, " you'll be able to 
 reach the brake, where, I'd bet my stern to 
 a buck rabbit's scut, he'll hang as long as he 
 can and dare." 
 
 Why so ? " inquired I. 
 
 Why so ? " repeated Trimbush, rather 
 
 temptuously. " Because he must know 
 
by this time that he can't outrun us. The 
 scent's too good, and we got away with him 
 on such terms that nothing but reaching a 
 strong earth, or changing to a fresh fox, can 
 save him." 
 
 " We must try to keep to our hunted 
 one," said I, thinking it was exhibiting 
 some wisdom. 
 
 " Try ! " repeated my friend ; " of course we 
 shall try. We always do ; but it's sometimes 
 impossible to distinguish the difference 
 between the scent of our hunted fox and 
 a fresh one. It's easy enough, when a fox 
 is viewed, to know, because it can be seen 
 whether he's been shoved along at the ex- 
 pense of his bellows and toilet ; but our noses 
 can't be depended upon." 
 
 As Trimbush said, upon gaining the brake 
 we found the fox hanging in it ; and, although 
 very hot, we gave him such a towelling, that, 
 so far from improving his condition, he had 
 better have taken to his pads and faced the 
 open. I saw him a dozen times in cover, and 
 his red rag hung from his open jaws, and his 
 brush dragged along the ground. We pressed 
 him up and down across the rides at a 
 
 -^STZ. _ 
 
 
killing pace, and although there was no 
 bullying by holding him in cover, and every 
 opportunity given him to quit it, he still 
 stuck to his quarters. 
 
 "You shall either run or die," said Trim- 
 bush, going through the cover like a bullet. 
 
 A clear, musical " Tally-ho " now echoed far 
 and wide. 
 
 "Gone away at last, eh?" observed my 
 friend, and, throwing up his head, he rushed 
 to the halloo. 
 
 "Hold hard!" roared the Squire, as one, 
 too eager, rode nearly over me as I leaped 
 from the cover. "You almost killed, sir," 
 continued he, " the best of my young entry, 
 and perhaps the most valuable puppy I ever 
 bred." 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir ; but my horse pulls 
 so, that " 
 
 " Then he is not fit to ride to hounds, sir," 
 hastily rejoined the Squire. 
 
 Being high on our mettle, we flashed for- 
 ward, after just touching the scent on a 
 dry-lying fallow, thinking that we had struck 
 on his line ; but Trimbush, and a few of the 
 old hounds, soon found that they were wrong, 
 
and, throwing up their heads, came to a 
 check. 
 
 " Let them alone," said the Squire, as Will 
 Sykes indicated a disposition to make a hasty 
 cast down wind. " Let them alone," repeated 
 he. 
 
 " He's certain to be making for the belt of 
 covers on the ridge, sir," replied Will, "and 
 the ploughs are so dry that it is impossible 
 for hounds to carry it over them." 
 
 "Let them alone," quietly rejoined the 
 Squire. "Let them alone." 
 
 "When allowed to make our own casts, 
 which we always should at first," remarked 
 Trimbush, poking his nose to the ground, " we 
 try down wind first, because that's the way 
 foxes constantly run. It's time enough to 
 cast up when we've made good the cast down. 
 Humph ! " continued he, as if puzzled, " I begin 
 to think Will's wrong." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " inquired I. 
 
 " I don't fancy he's pointed for the covers 
 on the ridge," returned Trimbush ; " let's see 
 whether he hasn't headed back," continued he. 
 
 We now tried wind, and, sure enough, hit 
 it off again under a hedgerow. 
 
" Ha, ha ! " laughed Trimbush. " He's a 
 sinking one, and has turned to die." 
 
 We now rattled on full swing over a 
 common, and on climbing a steep hill, I saw 
 a magpie darting to the ground and then 
 rising high in the air to stoop again. 
 
 " What's that chattering pie doing ? " in- 
 quired I, directing Trimbush's attention to 
 the bird. 
 
 " Mobbing him," replied he. " The magpie, 
 jay, and crow love to mob a sinking fox. 
 Keep your eye forward ; it will soon be 
 from scent to view." 
 
 " Are those covers strong ? " I asked, seeing 
 that we were making for a long line of trees. 
 
 "Little more than spinnies," replied my 
 friend. " He can't hang in them a minute." 
 
 We drove him through these little covers 
 without let, check, or stop ; and at the last, 
 out he flew in view of all of us. We rushed 
 at him like greyhounds from the slips ; but, 
 with a desperate effort to save his life, he 
 managed to dash round the corner of a barn, 
 and, as we turned, I saw him slipping along 
 on the top of a thick square-topped hawthorn 
 fence, and, springing upon the trunk of a 
 
tree covered with ivy, disappear. None of 
 the others saw this artful dodge ; but all 
 flashed forward, and were bewildered at not 
 either viewing or being able to hit him off. 
 Trimbush flung himself here and there in a 
 perfect fury, and would not pay the smallest 
 attention to what I had to say. 
 
 "Put your nose down and work," said he 
 passionately, " don't talk to me." 
 
 " But I tell you " 
 
 " Pshaw ! " interrupted Trimbush. " What's 
 your head in the air for ? " 
 
 " Because the fox is in the air," replied I. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked he, seeing 
 that I was serious. 
 
 I then told him that which I had seen, and 
 inquired what I should do. 
 
 "Hold your tongue," returned the artful 
 old rogue ; " it shows a wise head, I've heard. 
 Leave the matter to me." 
 
 In order to monopolise the whole of the 
 credit to himself, Trimbush galloped to the 
 tree and dashed at it, in the attempt to climb 
 the gnarled and knotted trunk. 
 
 " What's that hound about ? " said the 
 Squire, looking greatly astonished. 
 
 < :3fc. * 
 
I now saw that Triinbush would get all the 
 praise of discovering our fox's hiding-place, 
 and felt greatly vexed with myself that I had 
 not gone at once to the tree and thrown my 
 tongue. The rest now clustered round the 
 leader, who, managing to stick and cling to 
 the ivy, got some dozen feet from the ground. 
 
 " He's gone to tree, sir," said Will Sykes, 
 exultingly, as he threw himself from the 
 saddle. 
 
 " That he has," returned the Squire, 
 scarcely knowing which to be — more 
 astonished or pleased. 
 
 To the infinite surprise of the field, who 
 came dropping up one by one, they saw the 
 huntsman drag a fox by the brush from a 
 hollow in the tree, and, catching him by the 
 neck to prevent the visitation of his grinders, 
 hold him up over his head with a halloo that 
 might wake the dead. 
 
 " Who-whoop, who-whoop ! " cried Tom 
 Holt. 
 
 " Who-whoop, who-who-whoop ! " hallooed 
 Ned Adams, in his good and choice voice, 
 which always had the effect of working us 
 into a frenzy. 
 
 .* VV 
 
A COOLING PLUNGE 
 
" He'd give us a run now," lisped a young 
 gentleman in pink, "if he was turned down 
 and had a little law given him." 
 
 I could have bitten his head off. 
 
 " My hounds deserve their fox, sir," replied 
 the Squire. " He is beaten, and nothing but 
 an accidental escape — like this might have 
 been — could have saved him. There have 
 been no unfair means used, from the find to 
 the finish ; and the only illiberal, unsports- 
 manlike act would be now to run the risk 
 of robbing the hounds of that which they 
 have justly won and made their own." 
 
 Not exactly among us, but not far from 
 where I stood — I think Will did it on purpose 
 to please me — the fox was thrown, and my 
 teeth were the first to fix themselves across 
 his loins. I had been taught in cub-hunting 
 not to gripe elsewhere ; but as it was, he gave 
 me a nasty pinch in the cheek. 
 
 In a few moments afterwards he was given 
 to us to be broken up, and then somebody 
 asked the Squire "if he would not try for 
 another fox, as it was early ? " 
 
 " No," replied our master, shaking his head. 
 " We are fifteen miles from kennel. The 
 
hounds have had a good deal of fatiguing 
 work in cover, and are satisfied with a novel 
 but glorious finish. I shall not run the risk 
 of tiring them more, perhaps for nothing, 
 and doing away with that spirit which the 
 sport of the day must have given, I hope, 
 to every one present." And lifting his hat, 
 string high, he bowed and joined the side of 
 his huntsman. 
 
 As we trotted along down a by-road, with 
 our sterns well up over our backs, and feeling 
 as proud as peacocks, I heard Will Sykes 
 remark, " It was a good forty minutes, sir." 
 
 "Yes," replied his master, with a slight 
 smile, "but it would not have been so long 
 if you had made that cast." 
 
 " If I had done that, sir," replied the hunts- 
 man, dropping his voice to a whisper, "if 
 I had done that, sir," repeated he, " ice should 
 have lost our fox" 
 
 " Let them alone, eh ? " rejoined the Squire, 
 smiling more perceptibly. 
 
 " Ay," returned Will. " Let them alone is a 
 beautiful rule." 
 
" See, {lie day begins to break, 
 And the light shoots like a streak 
 Of subtle fire ; the wind blows cold 
 While the morning doth unfold : 
 Now the birds begin to rouse, 
 And the squirrel from the boughs 
 Leaps to get him nuts and fruit : 
 The early lark that erst was mute 
 Carols to the rising day 
 Many a note and many a lay. 1 ' 
 
 I WOKE the following morning soon after 
 the first tinge of day had streaked the 
 east, and found myself terribly stiff and 
 footsore. My nose, too, was hot, and I felt 
 very thirsty. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " asked Trimbush, 
 waking, as I gave a whine of uneasiness. 
 
 " I'm not well," replied I, limping from the 
 bench. 
 
 " Oh, it's nothing to care about," replied he, 
 yawning and stretching his limbs. " Yester- 
 
day's work has taken the steel and wire out U? ^ 
 of ye, that's all." 
 
 " It does not appear to have touched you," 
 rejoined I. 
 
 " Me ! " returned Trimbush, grinning so that 
 he showed every tooth in his head. " Do you 
 know, youngster, what you are ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered I proudly ; " one who 
 does his duty, and gives as much satisfaction 
 as any of you oldste?°s." 
 
 " Well, well ! " responded he, " I must admit 
 that you allow yourself to be taught; and 
 both the duty and satisfaction which you 
 give at present are concentrated in that one 
 great and good quality." 
 
 Feeling somewhat humbled at this reply, 
 and smarting under the advantage taken of 
 me the day before, I added sharply, " There 
 was no teaching me to instruct you how to 
 obtain all the credit of the finish yesterday." 
 
 " Hear, hear, hear," said one of our com- 
 panions, called Chancellor. 
 
 " At him again ! " exclaimed a spaded bitch 
 named Levity, and of the same age as my- 
 self. " Take a suck at the lemon, and at him 
 
" You're a sharp lot," replied the old hound, 
 with a mingled look of contempt and in- 
 difference, " a very sharp lot indeed. I 
 couldn't think," he continued, turning to me, 
 " what made the tip of your stern curl over 
 your head and tickle your nose until now. 
 I have heard of a French poodle's being so 
 stiff in the bend that he couldn't get his hind 
 legs to the ground ; but hang me if your 
 conceit is not about a match for his." 
 
 " But you must admit," observed Chancellor, 
 "that without him we should not have broken 
 up our fox yesterday." 
 
 " Well ! " returned Trimbush, " and suppos- 
 ing I do admit it, what then ? " 
 
 " You should not have snatched the honour 
 from him," replied Levity. 
 
 "Honour?" rejoined Trimbush. "Pooh! 
 The honour was already gained before we 
 mouthed the fox. We all like blood for the 
 finish — men as well as hounds — but it does 
 not follow that there may not be quite 
 as much credit due to both without a who- 
 whoop as with it. For instance," continued 
 he, " if that youngster Ringwood had had his 
 nose to the ground — as he should have done 
 
the moment the fox was lost to view, instead 
 of occupying himself by star-gazing — we 
 should, in all probability, have lost our fox. 
 What would have caused us to have done 
 so ? A mere accident, for which no one 
 would have been to blame. And what, let 
 me ask, enabled us to obtain a more desirable 
 result ? Just as accidental a circumstance. 
 Honour? Fudge!" 
 
 " At any rate," said Chancellor, " I heard 
 everybody praising what they called your 
 sagacity for discovering the fox in the tree." 
 
 " It's the way with those fools of men," 
 replied Trimbush. " They often laud that 
 in us which deserves no praise whatever, 
 and pass by in silence some of our most 
 remarkable accomplishments." 
 
 I felt that there was much truth in Trim- 
 bush's argument ; and although a sly twinkle 
 in his eyes led me to suspect that he made 
 thus light of my information for a selfish 
 purpose, I lost a great deal of the vanity 
 which I hitherto had entertained from being 
 the agent of so fine a finish. 
 
 "You chanced to remark yesterday," said 
 I, " that foxes constantly run down wind. 
 
Why do they ? is it to render the scent less 
 strong for us?" 
 
 " Certainly not," responded Trimbush. 
 " The scent has nothing whatever to do with 
 it, notwithstanding what a parcel of cackling 
 geese may have said and written. The truth 
 is, a fox is a timid, sly animal with extra- 
 ordinary quick ears and eyes, and a famous 
 nose. When found, he, of course, must break 
 where there's an opening ; and as no men 
 place themselves up wind of us, or very 
 seldom, that side is generally left free, and 
 away he rattles up wind at the burst. I am 
 now, of course, speaking of the rule, and not 
 the exceptions. He does not go far, however, 
 before he smells, hears, or sees something 
 unpleasant, which turns him either to the 
 right or left. Another lurking cause of sus- 
 picion that there's an enemy in front, as well 
 as those in the rear, turns him again, and 
 so on until he gets his head straight down 
 wind, when, smelling and hearing nothing 
 before him, he tries to make his point and 
 get out of the reach of our ringing cries, and, 
 as he knows full well — whetted appetites." 
 
 " That sounds reasonable," remarked I. 
 
 
" Thank you," rejoined the old hound, 
 flourishing his stern. "I'm flattered with 
 your approval." 
 
 " I noticed that the scent continued to 
 improve after the first ten minutes," said I, 
 " until within a short time of running him 
 to view, when it seemed to gradually die 
 and become more faint." 
 
 " It not only seemed," replied Trimbush, 
 " but it did so, and from obvious reasons. 
 Every animal with a skin — and I don't 
 remember at this moment any without," 
 facetiously continued he — "smells stronger 
 when hot than cold. Fear often produces 
 the same effect, but from the like cause — 
 as any excitement, whether pleasurable or 
 the reverse, produces physical heat. Now, 
 after a fox is found, his scent increases — 
 although, from the state of the weather and 
 ground, we may not be able to hunt him a 
 yard, nevertheless — so long as exhaustion 
 does not take place ; and then as he sinks, 
 so does the scent decrease. The reasons for 
 this," continued Trimbush, " are as simple 
 as they are indubitable. The perspirable 
 matter escaping through the skin augments 
 
for a time from exertion, and the devil of 
 a fright he is in from our rattling behind 
 him: but this begins to die away after 
 excessive evaporation, and often has caused 
 us to lose a fox scarcely able to crawl." 
 
 " I thought the scent came from the pads," 
 remarked Levity. 
 
 "And what made ye think that?" sneered 
 the old hound. 
 
 " I don't exactly know," replied Levity ; 
 "but certainly such was my opinion." 
 
 " Then never express such a foolish one for 
 the future," rejoined Trimbush. " If it came 
 from the foot, how could we carry a good 
 head in a body, and each have a fair share 
 of the scent? We should have to run and 
 follow each other in a string, and one or two 
 might do the work, after drawing, as well as 
 twenty or five-and-twenty couples. Again, 
 if it came from the foot, how could we carry 
 it through water ? I say, and ought to know 
 something about the matter," continued the 
 old hound emphatically, " that the scent 
 proceeds from the entire animal. The back, 
 belly, head, foot, brush, and — and — and — 
 exactly so, and every part else." 
 
Old Mark was now heard approaching, 
 which at once put a stop to the discussion ; 
 and as soon as the good old man saw that I 
 was lame he examined my feet and washed 
 them with something which he took from 
 a bottle hung by a piece of string to the 
 buttonhole of his frock. A few others he 
 served in the same way ; and calling us each 
 by name, let us into another court, saying, 
 " You puppies shall feed by yourselves this 
 morning; you all want a little nursing, I 
 find." 
 
 Will Sykes entered soon afterwards, and, 
 seeing Mark's arrangement for our comfort, 
 observed, " That's right ; those puppies want 
 taking care of." 
 
 "Ay," replied Mark, smoothing down my 
 sleek ears and patting my sides, "I hear 
 some of 'em deserve it." 
 
 "That Ringwood," rejoined the huntsman, 
 "is more like a third-seasoned hound than a 
 puppy at the beginning of his first." 
 
 Old Mark's eyes glistened again at this ; and 
 looking at me for a few seconds as I lashed 
 my stern to and fro and stared him full in the 
 face, to let him understand I knew all that 
 
was being said of me, he muttered, " If a draft 
 of hounds ever goes to heaven, you'll be one 
 of 'em, my lad." 
 
 All this praise tended to make me a little 
 vainer than I otherwise should have been, 
 perhaps ; but at the same time it fixed my 
 resolution to merit as much as I could of it. 
 And I have often thought since, that there is 
 nothing like encouragement to the young and 
 inexperienced. The difficulties of attaining 
 anything worth learning are always great, and 
 using harsh and severe means on the part of 
 the teachers only makes the attempt more 
 painful and repulsive. Punishment is, oc- 
 casionally, indispensable for obstinacy or 
 repeated offences ; but there is nothing like a 
 cheer for improvement. 
 
 After breakfast, and when we were all 
 assembled in the court, the subject of scent 
 was again renewed by Levity observing, in a 
 confidential whisper to me, but which was 
 overheard by Trimbush, " that she very much 
 questioned the correctness of the old hound's 
 opinion concerning it." 
 
 " You question ? " snarled Trimbush. " We 
 shall certainly hear," continued he, "of 
 
mewling, puking babes teaching their grand- 
 mothers to suck eggs, by and by." 
 
 Levity looked abashed at this satirical 
 remark, and burying her nose between her 
 fore-feet, appeared resolved to give herself to 
 silence bordering on the sulky. 
 
 "There's nothing so puzzling, nothing so 
 difficult to comprehend by the best and most 
 experienced of us," said Trimbush, addressing 
 me, " as the philosophy of scent ; and yet, for- 
 sooth, we are to be told by a babbling puppy 
 that " 
 
 " Well, well ! " said I, interrupting his irate 
 speech, " don't get in a passion about a trifle." 
 
 " Right," replied my friend, smoothing the 
 bristling hackles on his back. " Quite right. 
 Life is made up of trifles, as the hours are of 
 seconds, days of hours, years of days, and ages 
 of years. Life's trifles are the atoms in unity, 
 forming the whole." 
 
 Not wishing to enter into a discussion of 
 this sort, I led Trimbush back to the original 
 subject by saying, "I should like to hear a 
 little more about the philosophy of scent." 
 
 " There is little more to add," returned he, 
 "as far as I know. Depending, as I have 
 
 
before said, on the weather, which changes 
 sometimes three or four times in a day, and 
 the state of the ground, the rule is, that it is 
 invariably uncertain. In windy weather we 
 are often accused of being wild and flashy ; 
 but the fact is, that the particles of scent 
 being widely spread and wafted about, one 
 hits it here, another there, and we fly from 
 one to the other, each thinking that some are 
 on the right line, and may slip away with 
 it unseen down wind. There is nothing more 
 tiresome than a gale of wind in hunting, both 
 to us and men. We can't hear each other, and 
 they can't hear us ; and it is matter of doubt 
 to me which is the worse of the two — a thick 
 fog, or a blowing gusty wind. I may here 
 remark," continued Trimbush, " that there is a 
 strange fact connected with scent, which I 
 have not heard attempted to be accounted for. 
 On the going off of a frost, we can run the 
 drag hard, right up to the kennel, and yet be 
 unable to run an inch afterwards." 
 
 " That seems very singular," said I. 
 
 "I suppose it to be," resumed my com- 
 panion, "that the scent clings to whatever 
 the animal rubs against or passes over during 
 
the night ; and having gone slowly, a greater 
 portion is omitted, which is preserved by the 
 frost, and the thaw having loosened the 
 particles, enables us to take them up." 
 
 " But how do you account for not being able 
 to run after he is unkennelled ? " asked I. 
 
 " Because his skin is cold ; and going at a 
 greater pace, there is not sufficient time for 
 the small quantity of scent escaping to lie 
 strong enough to overcome the exhalations 
 from the ground, occasioned by the warmth 
 of the day." 
 
 This sage reasoning on the part of Trimbush 
 made me feel very small in my own estimation, 
 and I made up my mind to follow his advice 
 for some time to come, and listen rather than 
 give tongue. 
 
" Hark ! the lark begins his flight, 
 And, singing, startles the dull light 
 From his watch-tower in the shies ; 
 Novo the dappled dawn doth rise ; 
 Still he comes in spite of sorrow, 
 And at my window bids good morrow, 
 Through the sweetbrier or the vine, 
 Or the twisted eglantine. 
 Listen how the hounds and horn 
 Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn." 
 
 HATE this meet," observed Tom Holt, as 
 we arrived at four cross-ways close to 
 the market town nearest our kennel- 
 " I hate this meet worse than any we have 
 in the country." 
 
 " It's not a pleasant one, certainly," replied 
 the huntsman. 
 
 "Pleasant?" repeated Tom. "In the first 
 place there's a nasty, close, woodland country 
 with banks as high as churches. Then we 
 have a pack of riff-raff counterskippers to 
 
 Foxhound M 
 
 I 
 
over-ride hounds, halloo, head the fox, and 
 play the devil. And as if this was not enough 
 for one blessed day's misery, the Squire him- 
 self generally finds fault all day long with 
 everybody and everything, when the fixture's 
 at these four cross-ways." 
 
 "We had better christen them the cross- 
 purposes then," returned Will Sykes. 
 
 "I don't mean to say," continued Tom, 
 without noticing the huntsman's remark, 
 " but he may have — Heaven knows ! — lots 
 of causes to put him out of temper; still 
 it's rather hard to feel oneself suffering for 
 the faults of others." 
 
 "It is not an unusual circumstance, 
 though," said Will Sykes. "I have often 
 heard of similar instances unconnected with 
 hounds and hunting." 
 
 Some of the field had arrived before us, 
 and others were trotting briskly up, the 
 hoofs of their horses clattering along the 
 roads in all directions. 
 
 "We must look out for ourselves to-day," 
 said Trimbush, " or there will be cases for 
 the hospital." 
 
 " They are a rough-looking set," replied 
 
I, glancing at some thirty horses, not one 
 of which would fetch ten pounds, and all 
 in a high state of perspiration, with their 
 riders puffing cigars and smelling of all kinds 
 of horrible mixtures. I felt quite ill, and 
 a little more would have turned my stomach. 
 
 " If any of these gentlemen," remarked 
 Trimbush, sneezing, " of high rank and 
 particular smell get down wind of us to- 
 day, we shall not be able to hunt a yard." 
 
 "What a dreadful thing it is," returned 
 I, "that men should make themselves so 
 offensive! I don't suppose they have any 
 noses, have they ? " 
 
 " Can't you see they have ? " replied my 
 companion. 
 
 " But it doesn't follow that they are any 
 use," said I. 
 
 " Well ! " added Trimbush, " as far as that 
 goes I don't think they are, although I have 
 heard of same men capable of smelling a 
 rat." 
 
 A few of the gentlemen who regularly 
 joined us now came up on their hacks, and 
 instantly afterwards their clothed and hooded 
 hunters, being led up and down by neatly 
 
dressed and light-weight grooms, were 
 stripped and mounted by their respective 
 owners. The contrast was strangely strik- 
 ing between these and the " roughs," and, 
 perhaps, caused my admiration to be greater 
 as I regarded each climbing into the pig- 
 skin. 
 
 Our master, as was his wont, and which 
 should be that of every one entitled to the 
 dignity of a M. F. H., made his appearance 
 to the minute of the hour fixed, and, lifting 
 his hat, saluted the field generally, while 
 he gave his hand and exchanged warmer 
 salutations with his friends and associates. 
 
 Our first draw was Pickton brake, a large 
 furze cover about a mile and a half from 
 the meet, and there we trotted with the 
 gratifying expectation of a sure find. 
 
 "Mind what I say," remarked Trimbush, 
 " if you don't keep your eyes and ears back- 
 ward as well as forward to-day, you will 
 have a dozen horses go over ye and not a 
 bone left in your skin unbroken. Be quick 
 as lightning, and if you flash over the scent, 
 never mind ; don't throw up and check if 
 there's a chance of being ridden over. I 
 
^y never do. It's not our fault if they won't 
 give us room." 
 
 "I'll take care of myself," replied I. 
 
 Upon nearing the cover the office was 
 given, and into it we dashed, and shortly 
 afterwards the whimperings in various parts 
 proved that there was more than one fox 
 in it. I hit upon a drag and opened loudly, 
 when Trimhush reproved me, after poking 
 his nose where I had mine, saying, "Not 
 so noisy, not so noisy. Let's have a distinc- 
 tion between opening on a drag and a 
 hearty good challenge when he's found." 
 
 An old favourite line-hunter, called Rasselas, 
 now threw his tongue. 
 
 "That's it," said Trimbush, flying to the 
 cry, and taking it up, his roar thundered 
 through the brake. 
 
 "Have at him!" hallooed Will Sykes. 
 " Have at him, hoik. Hoik, hoik together ! " 
 
 It was evident that a brace was on foot, and 
 the Squire, looking more serious than usual, 
 desired that the field might move away from 
 one side of the cover and be quiet, otherwise 
 there was a probability of a chop taking 
 place. 
 
About a minute afterwards, out came a 
 fine, lengthy dog-fox. 
 
 " Tally-ho ! " shrieked a muffin on a hired 
 knacker, and back the fox dived into the 
 brake again. 
 
 "It is most strange, sir," said the Squire, 
 riding up to the side of the offender, "that 
 you should give yourself the trouble of 
 hallooing. I pay three servants to do that 
 work, and, although I am extremely obliged 
 for your voluntary assistance, I shall feel 
 much more indebted, as will many of the 
 gentleman present, if, for the rest of the day, 
 you'll hold your tongue." 
 
 I never saw a muffin so browned in the 
 whole course of my life. If he had been 
 sworn at and called a parcel of hard names 
 — which always recoil upon the utterers of 
 them — he might have been made more 
 angry ; but nothing could be more effective 
 than the rate from the cutting, gentleman- 
 like tone and manner which accompanied it. 
 
 In consequence of being scared with this 
 halloo, the fox showed the greatest dis- 
 inclination to break a second time, and the 
 day being very warm, and the cover strong, 
 
we began to feel as if a spider had been spin- 
 ning cobwebs in our throats. 
 
 " It's choking work, this," said I. 
 
 "Yes," replied Trimbush. "There's no 
 wind here. Let's press him as hard as we 
 can ; for he feels it as well as us, recollect." 
 
 We now rattled him up to the top of 
 the cover, and, crossing a ride, Will Sykes 
 viewed him, and giving us a ringing view- 
 halloo, convinced us we were on our hunted 
 fox. 
 
 " There's a leash a-foot, sir," said the 
 huntsman, as the Squire now came to his 
 assistance. 
 
 " Then get them as near to him as you can," 
 replied the Squire, " and prevent them getting 
 on the other lines." 
 
 Ned Adams now viewed the fox in a broad 
 open ride, and hallooed, " Tally-ho ! " 
 
 " Never mind," said Trimbush, as I was 
 about leaving the scent to fly to the halloo. 
 " Ned Adams, like yourself," continued he, " is 
 young and cannot be depended on. Keep 
 your nose down ; we are quite close enough 
 to carry him over the other lines of scent 
 without changing." 
 
Immediately afterwards I heard the Squire 
 ask in a loud, angry voice, "Why did you 
 halloo ? " 
 
 "Because I viewed the hunted fox, sir," 
 replied Ned, touching his cap deferentially. 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " At the bottom of the ride, sir." 
 
 "And you standing at the top," returned 
 the Squire, "when you must hear that the 
 body is well settled to him, halloo them away. 
 What could be your object ? " 
 
 " I thought the stragglers " 
 
 " Would rather fly to their tongues than to 
 your foolish halloo," interrupted the Squire, 
 "or you ought to have thought so." 
 
 " You see," added Trimbush, " I was right. 
 But all young-uns think they know every- 
 thing, and the study and experience of the 
 oldsters go for nothing." 
 
 We had now given him such a dusting that 
 he could hang no longer, and Tom, holding 
 up his hat at the farthest end of the brake 
 up wind, quietly announced that he had gone 
 away. 
 
 Following Will, crashing through the furze, 
 I heard Tom say to him, " He's just crossed 
 
the road," pointing with his whip to the exact 
 spot. 
 
 We flew in a body to it, and, taking up the 
 scent, away we went. 
 
 " Get on," said Trimbush, " and we may, 
 perhaps, shake off the rabble and have a run. 
 It's our only chance." 
 
 We carried a fine head across the first field 
 of some thirty acres of grass, and crossing 
 two wide ditches — which would be called 
 brooks in some counties — we began to hope 
 that these would prove of essential service in 
 stopping the mob. A blind bullfinch, too, 
 increased our sanguine hopes on this head, 
 and we began to flatter ourselves that a good 
 day's sport was in store, when we had to 
 throw up and check. 
 
 " That ploughman's headed him," said Trim- 
 bush, making a cast to the right, "and he's 
 down wind as sure as I'm a foxhound." 
 
 He was right, and hitting it off, with an 
 improving scent, we down with our sterns 
 and raced along at our best pace. A large 
 flock of sheep was before us, and, notwith- 
 standing they ran some distance, we managed 
 to carry it through the stained ground, with 
 
a little careful picking, without much loss of 
 time. I saw Will Sykes in doubt as to 
 whether he should not cast us forward ; but 
 thinking, perhaps, of the sensible rule of 
 " letting us alone," and as we did not throw 
 up, he, luckily for himself, kept his horn 
 quiet. Had he twanged it he would have had 
 the Squire about his ears. 
 
 As the ground was good and we had a turn 
 of wind in our favour, we set to work and 
 soon recovered the little time lost through 
 the sheep. There was now every probability 
 of having a glorious day's sport. The field 
 had been thinned materially at the burst, and 
 those with us were not near enough to do 
 any harm. 
 
 "It will be short and fast to-day," said 
 Trimbush, exultingly. 
 
 The scent was now a burning one, and we 
 all bristled for blood. Across three deep 
 fallows we carried it in great force into and 
 across a green lane, flanked by two tall 
 quicks, when suddenly the leading hounds 
 threw up. 
 
 "What's the matter?" inquired several, 
 throwing up their heads. 
 
" Find out," briefly replied Trimbush, doing 
 his best to accomplish the deed himself. 
 
 In a few seconds the lane became full of 
 horses ; for it is wonderful how courageous 
 men are in spinning along roads. Some came 
 screaming up and cracking their whips, and 
 instead of sticking to our work we began 
 flying about in every direction. 
 
 The Squire scolded, Will roared, Tom lost 
 his patience, and Ned Adams thundered out 
 " Hold har-r-r-d ! " until black in the face. 
 
 At this juncture, a fellow with his hat 
 hanging by the string, his long lank hair 
 streaming in the wind, coat tails sticking 
 well out, and his horse's head close to his 
 chest, came tearing up the lane. Bang he 
 went against me, rolling me over and over 
 like a football. I thought my back was 
 broken, and sang out with pain and fright 
 most lustily. 
 
 " William," said the Squire, sternly, " take 
 the hounds home." 
 
 Will touched his cap, and the order was 
 obeyed. 
 
 *swi (ffffA 
 
 m 
 
1 Oh ! what avails the largest gifts of heaven 
 Wlien drooping health and spirits go amiss? 
 How tasteless then whatever can he given; 
 Health is the vital principle of bliss.'''' 
 
 L 
 
 ICK that stain off your flank," said 
 Trimbush, pointing to the dirt on 
 my side. 
 
 " Why should I be so particular ? " replied 
 I, obeying his instructions ; " we don't go out 
 to-day." 
 
 " No," rejoined he ; " but the Squire's 
 coming to inspect us, and, I suppose, you'd 
 like to appear nice and comely in his eyes." 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " I asked, 
 applying my tongue more diligently to the 
 completion of my toilet. 
 
 " You'll see in a few minutes," added Trim- 
 bush ; "and if everything isn't in gingerly 
 order, I'll bet a week's meal and broth, those 
 
\r\ 
 
 will hear of it who are responsible for their 
 neglect." 
 
 The greatest neatness and cleanliness were 
 always observed in our kennel ; but I noticed 
 old Mark had put a polish on his shoes, and a 
 white neckerchief was tied, with much skill 
 displayed in the bow, round his throat. 
 Will Sykes, too, Tom Holt, and Ned Adams, 
 upon entering the court, exhibited more care 
 than usual in their dress on non-hunting 
 days. 
 
 The huntsman, glancing round and seeing 
 all was unobjectionable as far as his hope and 
 belief went, pulled a watch out of his fob, and 
 observed that " the Squire will be here in 
 seven minutes three-eighths." 
 
 "Can you time him to a second?" said 
 Mark, smiling. 
 
 "Ay," replied Will, "it doesn't require a 
 gauge to do that with his rules." 
 
 As a distant clock was striking, the bell 
 rung at the kennel door. 
 
 " I said so," remarked the huntsman, and 
 upon opening it he lifted his hat, and in 
 walked our worthy master. 
 
 " Now for my frock," said he, and one as 
 
white as snow was brought by old Mark, who 
 was sensitively jealous of the privilege of 
 assisting the Squire to make his kennel 
 toilet. 
 
 When attired he proceeded to the boiling- 
 house, examined the boiling flesh, coppers, 
 and everything belonging to that department. 
 Then turning into the feeding-room, he 
 looked at the troughs and expressed himself 
 satisfied with the perfect order that all things 
 were in belonging to this. 
 
 In going to the lodging-rooms, Will Sykes 
 said, "How would you like to have them 
 drawn, sir?" 
 
 "Each hound singly," replied the Squire, 
 " and the entry first." 
 
 It was some little time before it came to 
 my turn ; but when my name was called out 
 I sprang, and as soon as I made my appear- 
 ance, the Squire took a piece of biscuit from 
 his pocket and throwing it to me, said " Here, 
 Ringwood, beauty," and caressed me kindly. 
 
 One or two of my young companions 
 evinced some temper and jealousy at this, 
 and growled deeply with up-reared hackles. 
 
 "Come, come," hallooed Tom, correctingly 
 
and a crack from his thong soon silenced the 
 grumblers. 
 
 " His nose is hot," observed the Squire, 
 touching my nostrils, and standing a few 
 feet back followed up the remark by saying, 
 "What is that redness on his flank?" 
 
 "A little heat, I think, sir," replied the 
 huntsman, making a more careful examina- 
 tion of me. 
 
 " Then cool him," was the reply, " and let 
 him stay at home to-morrow." 
 
 I was very sorry to hear this order given ; 
 for although I felt far from being in health, 
 I was anything but disposed to be placed on 
 the hospital list. 
 
 Being passed forward to the others, Van- 
 quisher was summoned, and the Squire 
 noticing him limp, said, " What is the matter 
 with that hound ? He's lame." 
 
 " He has cut his near fore-foot a little," 
 replied Will. 
 
 "Let me see," rejoined our master, and 
 upon lifting it up, said, " He has sprung a 
 claw, and you ought to have known it." 
 
 The huntsman's face became a little flushed, 
 and he looked as if he felt the rebuke keenly. 
 
There was no further remark of censure 
 after this, and when the entire presentation 
 had been gone through with, the Squire took 
 his departure, expressing himself perfectly 
 satisfied and content with the general 
 arrangements of the establishment. 
 
 " I'm not going out to-morrow," said I to 
 Trimbush, with my spirits down to zero. 
 
 " Never mind," replied my friend ; adding, 
 by way of consolation, that he would give 
 me a good account of the day's sport. 
 
 " Yes," rejoined I, " but that's a poor make- 
 shift for the disappointment of not joining 
 in it." 
 
 "Well, well!" added he, hastily. "We 
 can't have everything as we could wish, and 
 must make the best of crooked matters when 
 they occur. I dare say," continued Trimbush, 
 " that the blow you received the other day 
 with the fright, may have put you out of 
 sorts." 
 
 "Probably," said I, "and I wish the 
 fellow " 
 
 "Pish, pish!" interrupted my companion. 
 "You might as well wish him good as wish 
 him evil. We have no more power in the 
 
M 
 
 
 one case than in the other, and it's old 
 ^ f womanish to snap your teeth when you 
 can't bite." 
 
 " I heard a man say, when we were out 
 last," said I, resolved to take advantage of 
 Trimbush's present loquacious humour; for 
 the old hound spent most of his time in a sort 
 of dreaming, winking, blinking state in the 
 kennel, and was excessively out of temper if 
 disturbed — " I heard a man say when we were 
 out last," repeated I, "that he liked to see 
 a flying hound, and would hang every line- 
 hunter that was ever bred." 
 
 " He must have known a great deal about 
 fox-hunting," replied Trimbush, with a sar- 
 castic grin, " a very great deal indeed. I 
 should like to have his name and address." 
 
 " Of course he was wrong," observed I, with 
 a slight touch of the interrogative in the 
 remark. 
 
 " Wrong ? " repeated Trimbush. " Ha, ha, 
 ha ! It makes my old sides ache again. 
 What would the flying, flashy devils do when 
 the scent fails at head if it was not for the 
 line-hunters ? By a line-hunter I don't mean 
 one of those old pottering fools who stick 
 
 Foxlwund 
 
>^v> 
 
 their noses to the ground as if they intended 
 them to take root there ; but a hound that, 
 when he has stopped long enough to satisfy 
 himself that he is on the line, holds forward, 
 and occasionally feels for the scent. That is 
 what I call a killing line-hunter, and is a guide 
 and pilot for the pack. Often will you see 
 the flyers with their heads up and sterns 
 down, and no more notion of stooping than 
 a flock of stray pigeons, flash a field or two 
 over the scent, and then back they turn and 
 follow the line-hunter in his cast, and the 
 moment he touches it, at him they dash, catch 
 it up, and away they race again. But who 
 gets all the praise ? " continued the old hound. 
 " Why, those who did none of the work." 
 
 " The Squire would give the applause to 
 whom it was due, though," replied I. 
 
 " Yes, yes, yes," rejoined my companion, 
 " and so would every true sportsman ; but 
 where there is one who understands fox- 
 hunting as a science, there are five hundred 
 who know no more about it than unhatched 
 tomtits. There are foxes and circumstances," 
 continued he, '• that will beat the best hunts- 
 man that ever cheered a hound or blew a 
 
horn ; but in nine cases out of ten the cause 
 lies in not paying attention to the line- 
 hunters. Hang every line-hunter that was 
 ever bred ! Ha, ha, ha ! " and the old hound's 
 laugh of derision rung through the courts and 
 lodging-houses far and wide. 
 
 " I am very glad you told me this," returned 
 I ; " for I began to think, from what I heard, 
 there was nothing so likely to insure the 
 praise of the field as having one's head in 
 the air and flying like a bird." 
 
 " Nor is there," added Trimbush. " But 
 who cares for the praise of a set of fools? 
 I'd rather have one ' Yo — o ' from our master, 
 or a ' Hark to Trimbush, have at him, hark,' 
 from Will Sykes, than all the yells and 
 whoops from the greatest mob that ever 
 met by a cover-side." 
 
 " That's true," said I. " There's no pleasure 
 to be had from their cheer." 
 
 " Only last season," continued my friend, 
 " some fellow who was dressed as if he knew 
 better absolutely cheered a second-season 
 hound babbling the moment he was in cover. 
 ' Softly, softly,' hallooed Will, cracking his 
 whip. 'Why, it's a challenge,' said the gen- 
 
tleman in pink. ' Yes, sir,' replied Will, ' such 
 a challenge that will cause him to have a 
 hempen cord put round his throat to-morrow 
 morning. We've put up with his noise long 
 enough, and longer than the Squire would 
 have done had I obeyed his orders strictly.'" 
 
 "And was he hung?" inquired I, feeling 
 a cold shiver run through my veins. 
 
 " Yes," replied Trimbush. " He was led out 
 of the court the next day, with a rope round 
 his neck, to suffer for his repeated offence. 
 It made us very sad to see him taken away ; 
 but no caution or punishment could break 
 him of the habit, and his example was a 
 shocking one for the young entry." 
 
 " I'll take great care not to acquire such 
 an one," said I. 
 
 " Several made the same remark," replied 
 Trimbush, " and some, who were rather prone 
 to indulge in kicking up a row for nothing, 
 made serious resolutions to avoid doing so 
 for the future, when the fate of the babbler 
 was witnessed." 
 
 " It was necessary, I suppose, for the dis- 
 cipline of the pack ? " rejoined I. 
 
 " Ay," added the old hound ; " if it were 
 
not for strict discipline we should be as 
 ungovernable, wild, and useless as a lot of 
 untamed tigers. Indeed," continued he, " I'm 
 not certain that the tigers couldn't be turned 
 to greater advantage. ' 
 
Cold grew the foggy morn : the day ivas brief : 
 Loose on the cherry hung the crimson leaf : 
 The deio divelt ever on the herb, the woods 
 Boared with strong blasts, with mighty shoivers 
 
 the floods. 
 All green was vanished, save the pine and yew, 
 That still displayed their melancholy hue, 
 Save the green holly with its berries red, 
 And the green moss that o'er the gravel spread''' 
 
 IT was the last day of November, and, con- 
 sequently, the concluding one of the first 
 month of regular hunting, that I was left 
 at home in consequence of indisposition. The 
 huntsman had given me the night before 
 a dose of something which tasted horribly 
 bitter, and I tried to reject taking it ; but, 
 from my position between his knees, and 
 his ramming a bullock's horn half-down 
 my throat, I was obliged to swallow the 
 nauseous mixture against my will. Between 
 
the effects of this and the mortification of 
 being deprived of the pleasure of a day's 
 hunting, my spirits became sadly depressed, 
 and I could do nothing but creep about 
 the court whining, and feeling as miserable 
 a dog as any on four feet. 
 
 The day was very windy, and the light 
 clouds, looking like fleecy wool, scudded be- 
 fore the gale, charged with rain ; but with 
 the exception of a few drops which occa- 
 sionally fell, there was nothing as yet but 
 the threatening of the flooding storm. 
 
 Sighing, moaning, whistling, screaming — 
 now in fitful gusts, then in one solid sweep, 
 mighty Nature's breath snaps the tree-top 
 and rends up the gnarled roots of a cen- 
 tury's growth. On, on, he goes. Bough, 
 branch, twig, and leaf — clinging like affection 
 to the dead — he whirls and scatters in his 
 stormy path, and with mad delight flings 
 destruction in his wake. O-ho for the wind. 
 Away, o'er heath and waste, and through 
 dark and deep woods, and by lone church- 
 yards, humming through ivy-twined belfries, 
 and jarring rickety casements, shaking old 
 hinges, and ripping up thatched eaves and 
 
roofs, he holds his course, like a fiery un- 
 checked steed. O-ho for the wind. Breasting 
 the wave, he drives the surge high, and 
 higher yet. Rolling mountains, topped with 
 white and hissing foam, duck from cresting 
 clouds to the wide chasms below. O-ho for 
 the wind — death to others is fun to him. 
 A ship ! Boldly she braves his mighty 
 thrust. Again. With one fell swoop, and, 
 quivering, down to the depths she sinks. 
 O-ho for the wind. 
 
 It was late in the day, and darkness 
 began to drop around before there were 
 any symptoms of my companions' return. 
 At length I heard the welcome clink of the 
 horses' feet along the gravel road leading 
 to the kennel, and shortly afterwards old 
 Mark threw open the door, and in they 
 trotted. 
 
 " Well," said I, as Trimbush entered, " what 
 sport ? " 
 
 " Oh ! " replied he, " none at all. Such a 
 wind as this," continued he, " is as bad as 
 a blind fog or a hard frost ; for the result 
 is just the same. We can do nothing with 
 a fox while it lasts." 
 
fffl "I didn't think of that," rejoined I, "or I 
 should not have been so envious of ye all day." 
 
 " Might as well have been at home," re- 
 turned the old hound in a grumbling humour. 
 
 " You found ? " said I. 
 
 " Of course we did," he replied. " We never 
 get a blank day. They are too staunch and 
 true preservers in our country for that to 
 take place." 
 
 My companion was now called to take his 
 turn in the warm bath, which Mark had pre- 
 pared, and after his body and limbs were well 
 laved, he was ordered into the lodging-room, 
 where there was plenty of clean straw to roll 
 in. 
 
 "There's nothing like this," said Trimbush, 
 rubbing his back, with all his feet in the air. 
 "There's nothing like this," repeated he, 
 " after a cold, wretched day. It warms one's 
 blood, prevents rheumatism, and is a real 
 blessed preventative to many disorders. I 
 like my bath as well as my meal." 
 
 " You are no bad judge," replied I, laughing. 
 
 " I should say not," returned he. " I should 
 say that I was anything but a bad judge 
 between what's good for us and what is not." 
 
 Foxhound p 
 
After all had been washed, and each had 
 enjoyed a good tumble among the straw, Mark 
 summoned them to the feeding-room, where a 
 bountiful meal was ready for their sharpened 
 appetites. When this was finished — and it 
 did not occupy many minutes — they were 
 conducted to another lodging-house, so that 
 there might be no damp or chill remaining 
 from the wet straw in the one used as the 
 drying apartment. Nothing could be more 
 perfect than all the arrangements made for 
 our health and comfort, and yet, in them- 
 selves, they consisted of little more than a 
 simple method of doing that well, which would 
 have occupied quite as much time and trouble 
 in the end to do badly. 
 
 " There," remarked Trimbush, with his ribs 
 sticking out as if they were well lined within, 
 " now I feel comfortable, and at peace with 
 all the world." 
 
 " Except the foxes in it," replied I. 
 
 " Oh ! " rejoined he, " I have no enmity to- 
 wards them. It's the combined joy of finding, 
 running, and beating them, and the pleasure 
 of " 
 
 " Eating them," added I. 
 
" Well ? " continued he, as if weighing the 
 sentence, " I suppose we may say that, too ; 
 but I am rather doubtful about it." 
 
 " About what ? " inquired I. 
 
 " About the eating part of the business," re- 
 plied he. " It's true that we break up a fox, 
 and swallow him as if we loved his carcase 
 better than any other kind of flesh. But, in 
 my opinion, it is more from the excitement 
 we are worked into than from any desirable 
 flavour he possesses. A fox is too near our- 
 selves for him to be considered proper food 
 for our stomachs. It's approaching particu- 
 larly close to dog eating dog." 
 
 " But that you did once," said I. 
 
 " Yes," responded Trimbush, carelessly, " I 
 know I did, and might again, under similar 
 circumstances. It only shows," he continued, 
 " what we will do when in a rage or in an ex- 
 cited state. There is nothing with life, from 
 an elephant to a cockroach, but we would 
 have a shy at." 
 
 " Then you don't believe that we really love 
 the varmint as a dainty morsel? " rejoined I. 
 
 "No," returned he, "I think not. Fancy, 
 for instance, your killing and eating the poor 
 
little vixen chained just outside the kennel (r^ 
 door." 
 
 " Ugh ! " said I, disgusted at the thought. 
 " Does not that prove what I say ? " asked 
 my companion. " We pass her continually in 
 going out and coming in, and yet not one 
 of us ever thinks of making a meal of her. 
 But if the fox was our natural food, we 
 couldn't help doing so, and the first oppor- 
 tunity that presented itself she would be 
 digested victuals." 
 
 "But, perhaps, the fear of getting a good 
 drubbing may operate as a check to the 
 inclinations of others," observed I. 
 
 " If that were the case," replied he, " how is 
 it that the hounds, which occasionally come 
 home by themselves hungry, never make the 
 slightest attempt to injure her? Nothing 
 would be easier than to kill and eat the fox 
 without the smallest risk of being discovered." 
 " There's great force in your argument," I 
 remarked. 
 
 "I flatter myself that there generally is," 
 returned the egotistical old hound. "Now, 
 look at a cat with a bird," he resumed ; " the 
 cases are very different. Whether the bird is 
 
 ,U.rr}:\ 
 
 raw 
 
wild or not — let it be on the tree or in a cage 
 — she will be equally disposed to make it her 
 prey. Birds, like mice, are her natural food ; 
 and she, therefore, takes them without any 
 other motive than to please her palate ; but 
 foxes, not being ours, we require the ardour 
 of the chase to make them agreeable to our 
 tastes." 
 
 " What do you think would be the effect if 
 we were not allowed to break the fox up?" 
 inquired I. 
 
 " That we should be just as eager to find, 
 run and pull him down," replied he. " You 
 hear sometimes of men talking about hounds 
 wanting blood. It's all nonsense. We may 
 want to kill ; but hounds never flag from want 
 of blood. All highly bred dogs like us love 
 sport, and we hunt for the enjoyment of it ; 
 not for our bellies. But men are such selfish 
 beasts, and think so much about eating, that 
 they can't give us credit for being more disin- 
 terested than themselves." 
 
 " You are very severe on our masters," re- 
 joined I. 
 
 " Not more so than they deserve," returned 
 Trimbush. "Not one in a thousand of 'em 
 
thinks for hiniself ; but just repeats that 
 which he's told, and so they go on, babble, 
 babble, babble, with about as much meaning 
 and sense as a flock of cackling geese. It's a 
 strange thing, too," continued he, " that what 
 they see in one case, forms no precedent or 
 guide to their addle-pated brains in another. I 
 don't mean to compare pointers, or setters, or 
 greyhounds with us, of course ; but they 
 never get blood, and yet they take as much 
 pleasure in their work, and are as eager to 
 find game, as if every bird shot over them 
 was plucked, roasted, and served up in rich 
 gravy, on silver, for their suppers. Now, it is 
 quite clear that they don't hunt for blood, and, 
 therefore, why should we ? It is true that we 
 look for it at the finish from habit, and 
 because we are cheered even to take it, and I 
 never feel wilder than when Tom and Ted are 
 who-ivhooping over us ; but to say that we 
 absolutely require blood is all nonsense." 
 
 " But the more we kill, the greater kill- 
 devils we become," said I. 
 
 " That's true," added my companion. " As 
 in everything else, the supreme gratification 
 lies in securing the object sought to be gained, 
 
and the running into our fox is ours. The 
 same rule would apply to our killing but 
 seldom, and consequently being generally 
 disappointed, as to pointers and setters 
 having very few birds shot over them. 
 Continued mortification would render all 
 much less ardent for the work, in consequence 
 of the dearth of the great climax to sport ; 
 not from the covetous, greedy, piggish, 
 grovelling want of the material to lick our 
 chops." 
 
 Finding Trimbush getting warm upon the 
 subject, I thought it better not to provoke 
 the discussion further, and made no reply. 
 The old hound, however, continued to abuse 
 mankind in general, for some minutes, for 
 entertaining such a low estimate of our 
 motives in the chase, and wound up his 
 observations by saying, " It's not to be 
 wondered at ; for true sportsmen are born, 
 like poets — chaps with as much music in 
 their souls as we have in our tongues — now 
 and then ; but fools come into the world 
 every second." 
 
" For with a sigh, a blast of all his breath, 
 That viewless thing, called life, did from him steal.'' 
 
 WE were trotting leisurely to cover, 
 one morning, when I remarked that 
 Trimbush was more serious and silent 
 than usual. 
 
 " What are you thinking about ? " said I. 
 
 "We've got our work cut out to-day," re- 
 plied he, "and I was just turning a few 
 matters over in my brain, to untie some of 
 the knots and difficulties which always beset 
 us when we draw Berry brake." 
 
 " Is that our first draw ? " said I. 
 
 "Yes," returned my companion, "and a 
 sure find. For the last four seasons we have 
 challenged the same fox, and, as he lives, I 
 need not say that he has, hitherto, beaten us." 
 
 " But how ? " I asked. " He must be some- 
 thing extraordinary to beat ye four whole 
 
" He is," added Trirabush : " but he must 
 be more than that, even to live till sundown 
 to-day." 
 
 " Tell me all about him," said I, " and 
 what your plans are ; for I see your mind 
 is made up for mischief." 
 
 " Why, in the first place, then, I should 
 tell you," replied my friend, "that Berry 
 brake is the strongest cover I ever was in. 
 It cuts our chests and sterns, and makes 
 our heads swell terribly, to get through at 
 any pace. The scent, too, is very good in 
 it, and from having given Old Charley some 
 good dusting, he will not hang a moment 
 now. This, in so far as the strength of the 
 cover is concerned, is all the better for us ; 
 but he is so wary that he bolts at the slightest 
 noise, and has taken to his pads long before 
 Tom has been even able to occupy his station 
 at the upper part of the cover. Whatever 
 his tactics may be, however, he invariably 
 breaks away fresh, and with a good start, 
 and being as strong a fox as ever stood before 
 hounds, he has managed to outrun and beat 
 us up to this time." 
 
 "Is he a big one?" I inquired. 
 
 Foxhound q 
 
" I have viewed many a one in my day," 
 replied Trimbush ; "but never did I put eyes 
 upon such a wolf-like looking animal. He's 
 as black as thunder, and as long as a rope- 
 walk. You can't mistake the devil's own, 
 as Will Sykes christened him, if you chance 
 to view him ; but we have not done so for 
 the last six times of hunting him." 
 
 " View or no view," rejoined I, " we'll stick 
 to him." 
 
 " For a month, if we can but hunt, yard 
 by yard, inch by inch," said the old hound, 
 with fixed determination expressed in his 
 proudly erected head and lashing stern. 
 
 " You've got some manoeuvre or artful 
 dodge in store for him, I know," I remarked. 
 
 " I have," responded my companion, " and 
 you shall not only hear what it is, but shall 
 join in the scheme. As I told you a short 
 time since, most foxes hang in cover as long 
 as they dare or can. It is their nature to 
 screen themselves as much as possible, and 
 they face the open only when compelled 
 and pressed. A fox that has been often 
 hunted, however, is of course more shy than 
 one who has not, and the devil's own, having 
 
invariably met with a precious rattling when- 
 ever he attempted to thread the covers, never 
 hangs fire now, but sweeps straight through 
 them. In order to be on good terms with 
 him, therefore, we must act in the same 
 manner, and to lose no precious second of 
 time, remember, that the moment we reach a 
 cover, the chances are a hundred to one that 
 he is already through. If not, we shall 
 instantly know that the pull is in our favour 
 by his hanging, for, if it was not for the 
 general rule of foxes hanging in covers, they 
 would serve us, in nineteen cases out of 
 twenty, as the devil's own does, and run 
 us clean out of all scent." 
 
 " Being so crafty," returned I, " I'm surprised 
 that they don't depend more upon that which 
 would save them, their speed." 
 
 " The reason is this," added Trimbush. " Al- 
 though much faster than we are, and with 
 power of equal endurance, they cannot bear 
 the heat of the day as well as we can. It 
 should be recollected also that we have rested 
 the night before, and commence our work 
 with empty bellies in the morning ; but the 
 fox has been on the pad foraging for food 
 
 
 
when we were asleep, and, perhaps, is gorged 
 at the moment we unkennel him. He there- 
 fore feels himself in no condition for racing, 
 and tries all his cunning to elude us in prefer- 
 ence to facing the open. I don't know," 
 continued he, " how the devil's own regulates 
 his meals ; but I fancy he must sup early and 
 go to bed long before cock-crow." 
 
 At this moment Will Sykes glanced round, 
 and hallooed, " Give them more room, Ned, 
 and let them empty themselves." 
 
 " Ay, ay," replied Ned, checking his horse to 
 leave greater space between himself and the 
 huntsmen. 
 
 " That's right," observed Trimbush. " There 
 should always be plenty of room between the 
 second whip and the huntsman, so that we 
 may not be hurried when we want to stop." 
 
 "Then you intend," said I, resuming the 
 
 subject, "then you intend " 
 
 " To fly straight to the farthest end or 
 opposite side of every cover he points for," 
 interrupted he, "and especially the moment 
 we are thrown into Berry brake, in order to 
 be on good terms with him at the burst. It's 
 our only chance," continued the old hound ; 
 
THE VARMINT 
 
" and if he beats us to-day, with the ground 
 in the order that it is, and this mild velvety 
 wind, hang me if I shall have any hope of 
 breaking up the devil's own." 
 
 " Have you made known your plan to any 
 of the others?" I inquired. 
 
 " Yes," replied my companion ; " two couple 
 and a half of the right sort stand in with us, 
 and it will go hard but we'll give a better 
 account of him than he has met with yet." 
 
 We had not to travel far to the meet, and 
 soon after Trimbush ceased speaking we came 
 in sight of it. The Squire had just trotted up 
 on his hack, and was dismounting at the 
 moment of our arrival. 
 
 " Well ! " said he, addressing Will Sykes, " is 
 the devil's own to beat us again to-day ? " 
 
 "He may, sir," replied the huntsman, 
 giving a cursory glance at us, as if to direct 
 his master's attention to the draft ; " but if 
 he does, I shall think Tom's suspicions are 
 right." 
 
 " And what are they ? " asked the Squire. 
 
 " That he bears a charmed life," replied 
 Will, " and no hounds ever bred could run 
 into him." 
 
Our master laughed heartily at this, and 
 said, " We must try to break the charm." 
 
 I felt all on fire as the cover appeared, and 
 could scarcely refrain from dashing after 
 Tom when he trotted off to take his station. 
 Trimbush, seeing my impatience, said, 
 " Gently, my lad, gently. There's nothing 
 like spirit ; but wait for orders, and never 
 yield to the impulse of committing a breach 
 of discipline." 
 
 Notwithstanding this reasoning, however, I 
 could see that he had enough to do to keep a 
 check upon his own inclination to break 
 away. But our impatience was not kept long 
 upon the stretch. Will was as anxious to 
 begin as we were, and no sooner had the 
 whips taken their places than he threw us into 
 cover, but without the slightest noise being 
 made. There was not so much even as the 
 crack of a thong. 
 
 " That's right," said Trimbush, going like a 
 bullet through the furze, " although I should 
 not wonder but he's gone." 
 
 The hounds, instructed by Trimbush, and 
 agreeing to adopt his proceedings, were 
 Dashwood, Hector, Loyalty, Wildboy, and 
 
Rubicon, all old friends of his. We went 
 together in a body full swing, more as if we 
 were flying to a view halloo than drawing a 
 cover, and just when about the thick of it, 
 a whimper from Chancellor announced that 
 the devil's own was afoot. 
 
 " Tally-ho ! " now rung from Tom Holt's 
 throat. 
 
 " Shoot to the right," said Trimbush, lead- 
 ing, and in a few strides we were outside the 
 thick, almost impenetrable gorse. 
 
 " Tally-ho, tally-ho ! " again hallooed Tom. 
 
 " Come along," said the old hound, " we are 
 close to his brush this time at any rate." 
 
 Racing to where the whipper-in stood with 
 his cap in the air, we picked up the scent and 
 found it sweeter than fresh-pulled flowers. 
 
 Settling to him, and with a bunch of our 
 companions, who likewise made play to the 
 halloo as we did, away we rattled at the pace 
 which only a burning scent and hounds brist- 
 ling for a kill can show. 
 
 For an hour and a half we burst him along, 
 and not one fox in a thousand could have 
 stood before us for such a time and over such 
 a country, in which there was not so much as 
 
a spinny to hide him ; but he kept on at just 
 the same rate, and a halloo, every now and 
 then, told us that he was only just a-head. 
 Several of us were tailed off, and some never 
 reached the main body at all. The burst was 
 so quick, that the field, too, couldn't get well 
 away with us, and the consequence was that 
 nearly all the horses were run to a standstill 
 before getting their second wind. 
 
 " I begin to think," said Trimbush, still the 
 leader of the chosen few, " that his point's 
 Gretwith rock, and if so, there's not a bush to 
 hold him for fifteen miles as straight as the 
 crow flies." 
 
 " He can't last the distance," replied 
 Rubicon. "We shall run him from scent 
 to view in less than another mile." 
 
 " So I think," rejoined Wildboy. " His red 
 rag's hanging from his jaws worse than mine, 
 I know, and that feels like dried chalk." 
 
 " We shall come to soil presently," returned 
 Loyalty. "There's the Loam stream not far 
 a-head." 
 
 " Egad ! " added Dashwood, " but I wish it 
 was in my next stride. I'm blistered with 
 thirst." 
 
" I shouldn't be surprised," said Trimbush, 
 " to find him try an artful move at the Loam. 
 Be careful, my hearts, and don't flash forward 
 on the opposite bank. Feel for it as you 
 go, and make good inch by inch, rather than 
 be in doubt. We shall save time by the 
 trouble." 
 
 Thus schooled, we took especial care, upon 
 refreshing ourselves in the Loam, to follow 
 the instructions given, and our first cast was 
 along the verge down stream, which also 
 chanced to be down wind. 
 
 " This is his line," said Trimbush, evidently 
 puzzled, "and yet " 
 
 "Let us try up wind," interrupted Dash- 
 wood ; " he may have headed, as he's a sinking 
 one." 
 
 "You flatter yourself," returned the old 
 hound ; " he has as much life in him as will 
 serve to test your pluck and powers for an 
 hour to come." 
 
 " But he may have headed back," observed 
 Wildboy. 
 
 "He may" quietly added Trimbush; "but 
 make your work good as ye go. "I think," 
 continued he, "that we have cast to the 
 
 Foxhound B 
 
right, which was the probable line, far 
 enough. Now let us try the left." 
 
 Will Sykes, Ned Adams, and the Squire 
 now came in sight; but their horses could 
 not be spurred out of a trot. Their heads 
 were between their knees, and their tails 
 shook as if they must drop off. 
 
 " How beautifully they work ! " I heard the 
 Squire say as he threw himself from the saddle. 
 " Let them alone ; pray let them alone." 
 
 We had now made the cast as far to the 
 left as we had done to the right, and yet we 
 could not hit him off. 
 
 " I'm sure he's headed back," said Wildboy, 
 confidently. 
 
 " We'll try," replied Trimbush ; " but I 
 doubt it." 
 
 "It's now quite clear," said the Squire, as 
 we failed to touch the scent in our try back, 
 "that the hounds can make nothing of it. 
 They have had a fair trial ; now let me see 
 what you can do, William." 
 
 Will threw his strong, keen eye forward, 
 and his ears were pricked for any halloo or 
 indication of the line of the fox ; but nothing 
 appeared to enlighten him. He then out 
 
with his horn, and was about making a wider 
 and more forward cast than we had made 
 down wind, when Trimbush sprang into the 
 stream, and swam to a small patch of sedge 
 and grass, not a great deal bigger than a 
 man's hat, and apparently scarcely large 
 enough to hold a rat, when bang the fox 
 sprang from the middle and away he raced, 
 whisking the water from his brush like a 
 maid trundling her mop. We rushed at him 
 in a body, but might as well have attempted 
 to get to the head of a stroke of soaped 
 lightning. 
 
 " A trick worthy of the devil's own," said 
 Trimbush, laughing, "but I proved a match 
 for him this time." 
 
 "How was it that we could not carry the 
 scent down stream ? " inquired I, as the devil's 
 own became lost to view over the brow of a 
 short but steep hill. 
 
 "Because," replied my companion, "he 
 reached the water some seconds before our- 
 selves and swimming so far down the stream, 
 he gained the little bank of mud, where he 
 squatted, with all the scent washed away from 
 him. We could, therefore, carry it no further 
 
than where he took water, and as he did not 
 break from it, the reason is obvious for our 
 being unable to act otherwise than we did." 
 
 " I can't think how you came to suspect 
 that he had laid up there," remarked I. 
 
 "I never knew a fox to do so before," 
 returned the old hound. " Soil is about the 
 only dodge a stag has to try his cunning at ; 
 but a fox rarely hangs in or about water. 
 I, however," continued he, " was prepared for 
 any trick with the devil's own, and my anti- 
 cipation of a deep one proved correct." 
 
 We now came to a more enclosed country, 
 and the fences greatly added to our mo- 
 mentarily increasing distress. The hounds 
 dropped off one by one, and some, attempting 
 to jump the steep and wide ditches, fell into 
 them, and there laid, not having strength 
 enough to crawl out again. 
 
 It was fearful work, and how I managed 
 to stagger forward is a mystery to me to this 
 day. Trimbush did his best to cheer us on, 
 and continually reminded us " that a kill was 
 certain if we only stuck to him a little longer" 
 But this " little longer " appeared to be a very 
 indefinite period. 
 
The winter day was waning fast. Objects 
 at a short distance began to loom through the 
 thickening shades, and the sun's last rays had 
 scarcely left a faint tinge of his glory in the 
 west. Still the chase went on. There was 
 no check, let, or stop. On, on, we flew : the 
 pursuing and pursued. 
 
 " He dies, by the Lord !" cried Trimbush, in 
 perfect ecstasy, as we flashed a few yards 
 over the scent, and then, turning, hit it off 
 short to the right. " He dies, he dies ! " cried 
 he, throwing up his head, and waking a 
 loud echo from his deep-toned tongue. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " inquired I, reeling 
 with weakness, and certain that my re- 
 maining strength was all but spent. 
 
 " His point was Gretwith rock, as I thought 
 long since," replied the old hound ; " but he 
 can't live the distance. He has now turned 
 short to run up wind, which proves him to 
 be a sinking one, and if he reaches Quaffam 
 wood it is as much as he can do." 
 
 Seeing that Trimbush was serious, this 
 sage opinion lent fresh aid to our flagging 
 energies, and the skeleton of his force, com- 
 prising only Dashwood, Wildboy, and myself, 
 
answered his cheer by redoubling our efforts 
 to run into the devil's own. 
 
 The wood which Trimbush spoke of now 
 appeared at the bottom of a deep valley, and 
 into the underbrush we dashed, confident that 
 the fox must hang, and also in the hope that 
 he would not live to leave it. I had no 
 sooner, however, entered the cover than, 
 losing the cool, refreshing wind at my 
 nostrils, I fell to the ground, faint and 
 breathless. I did my best to get on my feet 
 again ; but every effort proved fruitless ; and 
 crouching behind the trunk of a large tree, 
 I was obliged to remain stationary sorely 
 against my will. 
 
 For a few minutes I heard my companions 
 driving the devil's own to the furthest end 
 of the cover from where I laid, and then, as 
 their cry approached, I knew they had headed 
 him towards me. Putting my head close to 
 the ground, I saw the fox creeping along 
 with his back up, scarcely able to crawl. His 
 tongue was drooping from his jaws, and his 
 brush dragged along as if there was not 
 strength enough in him even to lift that. 
 Every now and then he stopped and turned 
 
his head, and, not perceiving me, continued 
 to near the spot where I laid. Close and 
 closer he came, and, at length, coming within 
 springing distance, I made an effort which 
 surprised myself, and fastened my teeth right 
 across the middle of his loins before he had 
 a chance of knowing from what quarter he 
 was attacked. Catching me by the ear, 
 however, he gave me a dying grip which 
 made me remember the length of his teeth 
 and the strength of his jaws for some 
 time to come, and he had not unlocked 
 them before Trimbush, Dashwood, and 
 Loyalty came to my assistance, and quickly 
 put an end to the struggle. 
 
 "We'll break him up presently," gasped 
 Trimbush. " Let's get a sob or two of wind 
 first," and forming a circle round the lifeless 
 carcass of the devil's own, we lay stretched 
 upon the ground, panting and beaten to a 
 crawl. 
 
 At this moment something crashing 
 through the brushwood was heard, and 
 soon afterwards a labouring man came 
 running up, and seizing the fox, lifted him 
 above his head, and " who- whooped " most 
 
lustily. He then drew a great clasped knife 
 from a sheath, and cut off the head, brush, 
 and pads of the devil's own. 
 
 "Ah!" said he, "I heard ye, and thought 
 there was something up more than common. 
 I can guess all about it. You've beaten every 
 one o' the field, and tailed off all the rest o' 
 the pack." 
 
 " You're right enough, old fellow," observed 
 Trimbush, " and I wish you could understand 
 me as well as I can you. But what the deuce 
 are ye about with the fox ? " 
 
 The astonishment of Trimbush was caused 
 by seeing the man deliberately proceeding 
 to skin the fox, as he might the body of a 
 dead cat or rabbit. 
 
 " I'll soon whip off your jacket," said the 
 man, " and then they can eat ye nice 
 and comfortably. Such a skin as this," 
 continued he, "must be terribly tough, I 
 know." 
 
 " What a considerate Christian ! " exclaimed 
 Loyalty. " Old Mark could scarcely be more 
 thoughtful." 
 
 "Besides," resumed the labourer, finishing 
 his job, " such a skin as this is worth half-a- 
 
crown, and it had much better go into my 
 pocket than down your bellies." 
 
 " Ho, ho ! " ejaculated Trimbush. " That's 
 the secret of your attention, is it?" 
 
 " Who-whoop ! " hallooed the man. " Who- 
 hoop !" and throwing the dismembered 
 carcass to us, we tore it into pieces and 
 demolished, with more than ordinary relish, 
 the devil's own. 
 
 " Now, what am I to do with ye ? " observed 
 the rustic, scratching the back part of his 
 head. 
 
 "Take us to the nearest best quarters," 
 said Trimbush ; " give us a good supper, plenty 
 of straw, and lead us home in the morning." 
 
 " It's a long distance," soliloquised the man ; 
 " but I shall get well paid for my trouble, I 
 know. It can't be done to-night, how- 
 somever; and so I'll get Farmer Oatfield to 
 give grub and lodgings, and journey home 
 with ye to-morrow myself." 
 
 " A capital move," said Trimbush, " and a 
 sentiment after my own heart. Come along." 
 
 Most willingly we followed our conductor 
 from the cover, and after proceeding about 
 a mile, we came to one of those nests of com- 
 
 Foxhound S 
 
forts, a good farm-house. As we entered the 
 yard two rough and shaggy shepherd's dogs 
 ran barking towards us ; but upon coming 
 closer, they wagged their short, stumpy tails 
 by way of a welcome, and soon afterwards we 
 had a famous supper of warm milk and meal, 
 supplied to us by the hospitable Mr. Oatfield, 
 who heard with infinite glee the rustic's 
 account of the way in which he discovered 
 us ; and then, by his orders, some bundles of 
 fresh straw were shaken out, upon which we 
 stretched ourselves, with that pleasure which 
 only the wearied feel. 
 
I 
 
 The gorse is yellow on the heath, 
 The banks with speedwell floivers are gay, 
 The oaks are budding, and beneath 
 The hawthorn soon will bear the wreath, 
 The silver wreath of May." 
 
 HATE to see those violets a-peeping on 
 the banks," said old Mark to the hunts- 
 man, one morning, " and always did." 
 " Why so ? " asked Will. 
 " Because they are a sure sign that hunting 
 is drawing to a close," replied our feeder. 
 
 "Yes, yes," rejoined Will Sykes. "True 
 enough. When the speedwell flowers begin 
 to show," continued he, " we may be certain 
 that the season's almost at an end." 
 
 " Shall we kill a May fox ? " inquired Mark, 
 for he always coupled the ive in all relating to 
 us and our doings. 
 
" No," replied Will. " The season's too for- 
 ward, and the Squire said yesterday he would 
 only hunt twice more." 
 
 " That's bad news," observed Trimbush. 
 " However," said he, " the noses on the 
 kennel door show that we have given a 
 good account of our foxes." 
 
 "The devil's own is not there," replied I. 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " No," rejoined the old hound. " His head 
 was sent to be mounted as a cup, I heard 
 Tom tell Ned Adams, and it is always to be 
 placed in the middle of the table at the hunt- 
 dinner." 
 
 " I'm glad of that," returned I. 
 
 " No doubt you are," added Trimbush, " and 
 so am I. It will be a lasting record of a run 
 that, if equalled, was never beaten." 
 
 "What was the time, do you suppose?" in- 
 quired I. 
 
 " Not a minute less than five hours," 
 responded my companion. 
 
 " How proud the Squire and all of them 
 were upon our return ! " said I. 
 
 " Yes," rejoined the old hound. " I thought 
 we should be killed by that which seldom 
 
forms the ground of coroners' inquests — 
 excessive kindness." 
 
 " Well ! " exclaimed I, " since we have but 
 two days remaining, we must endeavour to 
 wind up the season with a good finish." 
 
 " To be sure," returned Trimbush ; " a brace 
 more of noses must be added to the account, 
 at least." 
 
 "How tired I shall be of kennel life 
 throughout the long, hot summer ! " said I, 
 with a whine at the thought. 
 
 "It is rather monotonous, I must say," 
 replied my companion. 
 
 " And then to be continually shut up," re- 
 joined I. 
 
 "Oh! but you'll not be," added he. "We 
 are taken out always at daybreak, when the 
 air and ground are nice and cool, and have a 
 gentle trot for some eight or ten miles. Then 
 a certain number, from three to four couple, 
 are allowed, in turns, to remain at large all 
 day about the kennel, or where we like, so 
 long as we don't get into mischief." 
 
 " That's very kind and considerate," said I, 
 "and contributes greatly to our happiness." 
 
 " And health, you might have added," con- 
 
tinued Trimbush " Nothing is so bad as close 
 confinement for us, and, indeed, for all kinds 
 of sporting dogs. The more liberty we have 
 the better for our condition, spirit, and 
 general good. Trencher-fed hounds," said he, 
 "are remarkable for the superiority they 
 possess over their kenneled brethren, and 
 the only cause is from the freedom they 
 enjoy." 
 
 " What a pity it is," said I, " that we can't 
 make our rulers comprehend us as well as we 
 understand them ! " 
 
 "Their heads are so thick," replied Trim- 
 bush, contemptuously. " A great many are 
 solid, like stones, all the way through, I'm 
 sure." 
 
 "Some act as if they were," rejoined I. 
 
 " Act ? " sneered the old hound. " Upon my 
 soul, I can't think what nineteen out of 
 twenty were born for. Certainly not for 
 fox-hunting ; that's quite evident." 
 
 " It's a good thing," I remarked, " that our 
 master is not one of the stone-heads." 
 
 " Yes," returned he, " we are fortunate in 
 that respect, and in most others. Will and 
 Mark are as famous hound servants as ever 
 
entered a kennel, and, as a good huntsman 
 makes good hounds, so does a good master 
 make good servants." 
 
 "There's a wonderful deal in the manage- 
 ment," I observed. 
 
 "Everything," replied Trimbush. "And, 
 unless a master of foxhounds is a thorough- 
 going sportsman, and is acquainted with all 
 the apparently trifling details of his establish- 
 ment, you may depend upon it that he's very 
 much out of his place." 
 
 "Your information concerning our liberty 
 during the summer months," said I, "has 
 reconciled me somewhat to the mortification 
 of closing the season." 
 
 "We need not examine farther," resumed 
 Trimbush, "than the effect produced upon 
 birds, when caged, to learn the advantages of 
 freedom. The plumage of a wild bird is close, 
 smooth, and bright ; while that of one in close 
 confinement is dull and rough. There is 
 strength and energy in the one, too, which is 
 never seen in the other." 
 
 "The feather often shows which way the 
 wind blows," remarked I. 
 
 " As well as the national banner of England 
 
floating in the breeze," returned the old I 
 hound. 
 
 " I have heard," I remarked, after a pause, 
 " with the greatest pleasure, all that you have 
 said regarding us, and I do not think anything 
 has been advanced without sufficient reason 
 being given. But what would you say may 
 be deemed a general rule for a huntsman to 
 observe ? " 
 
 "In the field*?" asked Trimbush. 
 
 "Yes," replied I. 
 
 " Study the wind," returned he, " let hounds 
 alone, and keep his eyes on the line-hunters. 
 On these important points," he continued, 
 "depends all the success in hunting. But 
 when I say let hounds alone, I mean that 
 they are to stand still just long enough for 
 them to be sure that the scent is not at the 
 point they are trying. We then go cheerfully 
 to try another ; but there is nothing so pre- 
 judicial as an imperfect, hasty cast." 
 
 " Nothing can be more obvious," I replied ; 
 " and I wish, with all my heart, that such a 
 golden rule could be indelibly carved in the 
 memory of every one whom fate may decree 
 to blow a horn to hounds." 
 
" Ay," rejoined Trimbush, " if abided by- 
 there would be but little cause for grumbling 
 about want of sport. We can 'generally do 
 far better without assistance that with it, and 
 the more we receive, the more helpless and 
 artificial we become. I believe I told ye so 
 a short time since, and it is the case, not only 
 with us, but with everybody, two-footed and 
 four, to look for support from those resources 
 which, through times of difficulties, save 
 labour and exertion, rather than put our own 
 shoulders to the collar. This is but natural, 
 and the blame rests more with those who are 
 unwise enough to forget that we all have our 
 duty to perform, and in doing that of others 
 they commit as great an error as in neglect- 
 ing their own ; because, if not idle themselves, 
 they are the positive cause of neglect and 
 idleness in their fellows." 
 
 " Upon my honour," returned I, " you talk 
 like a philosopher." 
 
 " Then a philosopher speaks but the simple 
 truth," added my companion, " in very simple 
 language." 
 
 " You never hear," said I, diving again more 
 particularly into our subject, " of men admit- 
 
M 
 
 ting that they had anything to do with losing l^ ^ 
 a fox, although they invariably claim a large 
 share in the honour of killing him." 
 
 "You have noticed that, have you?" re- 
 sponded the old hound, laughing. " No ; it is 
 always they lost him, but we killed him. Ha, 
 ha, ha ! " 
 
 "It ought to be just reversed," rejoined I. 
 
 " There would be much greater truth in the 
 assertion, when generally applied," returned 
 Trimbush. " A fox is frequently lost through 
 them, and rare, indeed, is the occurrence 
 when any act on their part may be regarded 
 as one of assistance in killing him." 
 
 " I begin to have a great contempt for the 
 ignorance of human beings," observed I. 
 
 " All of us do at the end of our first season," 
 replied my friend. "We discover, by that 
 time, what a set of know-nothings men are, 
 and, if worthy to be retained in the pack, 
 take no notice whatever of their cheers or 
 rates ; but merely avoid their horses' feet, 
 and get away from them as far and as fast 
 as we can." 
 
 >m^ 
 
THE DEATH 
 
" When early primroses appear, 
 And vales are decked with daffodils, 
 I hail the new reviving year, 
 And soothing hope my bosom fills. 
 The lambkin bleating on the plain, 
 The swallow seen with gladdened eye, 
 The welcome cuckoo's merry strain, 
 Proclaim the joyful summer nigh." 
 
 IT was the second week in April, and the 
 last day of the season, that we jogged 
 slowly along the road to the meet. The 
 season had been unusually forward, and the 
 air was fragrant with the early violets and 
 primroses, decking the roadside banks. There 
 was a haze rolling along the valleys, and 
 the boughs and branches of the trees, now 
 unfolding their luxuriant and freshest green, 
 were glittering with myriads of dewdrops, 
 flashing in the light of the young spring morn. 
 
Punctuality being the standing order with 
 our Squire, Will often consulted his watch to 
 regulate our pace, so that we should be at the 
 fixture exactly at the time named ; and as we 
 approached Duvale village, the church clock 
 was striking the hour of ten. Turning on to 
 a patch of green, where a few geese and a 
 lonely, dejected-looking donkey cropped the 
 meagre herbage, and a host of round-faced, 
 chubby children played, and madly screamed 
 with joy to see us arrive, we formed a group 
 around Will's horse in eager expectation of 
 the Squire's coming. The hum of the last 
 stroke had scarcely ceased, when the sharp 
 pit-a-pat of a horse's feet was heard, and 
 immediately afterwards the Squire came 
 cantering up, accompanied by three or four 
 of his friends. 
 
 I was glad to see that the field comprised 
 those only who hunted regularly with us, and, 
 although many of them were generally too 
 anxious to get forward, and thought of little 
 more than showing well in the first flight, yet 
 there was no fear of such unsportsman-like 
 conduct on their part. 
 
 Without the loss of a minute we trotted off 
 
to our first draw, a long and narrow belt of fir- 
 trees, with thick brushwood at the bottom, 
 which proved a blank. We then drew a line 
 of small spinnies, and in one of them, at the 
 furthest end up wind, I saw two or three old 
 hounds flourish their sterns at one spot, and 
 before I could reach it a first-seasoned one, 
 like myself, called Boaster, threw his tongue. 
 
 " Gently, Boaster," hallooed Will, giving an 
 admonitory crack of the whip, " Gently, 
 Boaster." 
 
 Upon pushing my nose among the group, 
 I inhaled a slight scent of the animal ; but 
 it was very faint. 
 
 " It's a stale drag," said Trimbush, " and he 
 may be twenty miles away by this time. Who 
 opened on it ? " asked he. 
 
 " Boaster," replied I, fearing that he might 
 think me guilty of the puppy-like deed. 
 
 " Then I tell you this, youngster," rejoined 
 the old hound, "if you're so free with your 
 tongue, you'll have reason to wish, some day, 
 that it had been cut out at your birth." 
 
 " But it was the right scent," expostulated 
 Boaster ; " and how could I tell if it was stale 
 or not ? " 
 
" Then your nose is not worth a damn," re- 
 turned Trimbush, passionately. "At any 
 rate," continued he, " you might have a little 
 decent modesty, and not take precedency of 
 us." 
 
 Trimbush placed a very strong emphasis 
 upon the " us," and Boaster, ashamed and 
 abashed, drooped his stern, and, for the re- 
 mainder of the day, did not again attempt 
 playing first fiddle. 
 
 We were now taken about two miles, and 
 thrown into a large rambling cover, composed 
 of patches of gorse, bramble, and nutwood. 
 
 " I saw some fresh billets just now, sir," said 
 Ned Adams to the Squire. 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " Just under that ash, and on the edge of the 
 gap, sir," replied the second whip. 
 
 " Very well," rejoined his master. 
 
 I was close to Dashwood and Trimbush, 
 when both stopped suddenly, and simul- 
 taneously throwing up their heads, both gave 
 long bell-like notes, which rung and echoed 
 far and near. 
 
 " Hark to Trimbush ! " cried Will Sykes : 
 " hark to Dashwood, hark, hark ! " and then 
 
I and others picked up the grateful scent, 
 and threw our tongues cheerfully, he hallooed, 
 " Hark together, hark ! " 
 
 Now we closed ; now we went full swing. 
 Up went Tom Holt's cap. 
 
 " It's a vixen, sir," I heard him say. 
 
 " Stop them then," replied our master, " and 
 let her go. We can't spare a bitch fox now." 
 
 Out we crashed ; but Tom charged at our 
 heads, cracking his awful double-thong, and 
 being well mounted, the most daring of us 
 knew that it was hopeless to endeavour to 
 get away with her. Boaster was the only one 
 who made a lame attempt, and he instantly 
 got a cut across the loins, which sent him 
 flying back into cover howling most piteously. 
 
 " It's a hard case," said Trimbush, doggedly, 
 " to be whipped off in this fashion, and I don't 
 think it's fair. When too late to kill vixens," 
 continued he, with little apparent inclination 
 to draw the cover again, "why not give up 
 hunting altogether ? " 
 
 " You would be the last to carry out that 
 principle, I'm sure," observed Rubicon. 
 
 " I don't know that," rejoined the old 
 hound. "It's very tantalising and dispirit- 
 
 -*r^ 
 
ing to be stopped the moment a fox, which 
 we have taken the trouble and pains to 
 find, breaks away. We meet with enough 
 disappointments which can't be avoided, 
 throughout a season, without having such 
 as these thrust upon us." 
 
 " But we are continually so stopped in cub- 
 hunting," returned Rubicon. 
 
 "That's quite a different matter," said Trim- 
 bush. " There are then two or three brace of 
 'em afoot, perhaps, and they get headed back 
 as well as ourselves. We can always reckon, 
 too, upon plenty of sport at that time ; but at 
 the end of a season, when foxes are thin, 
 it " 
 
 At this moment I winded the glorious scent 
 again, and, throwing my tongue, bang a great 
 dark-coloured fox went across a ride. Trim- 
 bush cut short his harangue, and, forgetting 
 the cause of his anger, flew to my side, and 
 away we rattled. 
 
 " Have at him ! " hallooed Will. " Have at 
 him, darlings ! Yoiks, have at him ! " 
 
 Up went Tom Holt's cap again. 
 
 " All right, sir," I heard him say. " As fine 
 a dog-fox as ever was seen." 
 
Through the furze we dashed, and out burst 
 more than two-thirds of us close to his brush. 
 
 Tivang, tivang, tivang, twang ! went Will's 
 horn. 
 
 " For'ard, f or'ard ! " hallooed Ned Adams : 
 " get to him, hounds, get to him ! For'ard ! 
 f ovard ! " 
 
 For fifteen minutes we flew along at 
 our best pace over a country without even 
 a bush strong enough to hold him. The 
 scent being breast high, we cut out some of 
 the sharpest work for the best and boldest to 
 ride to us. 
 
 " His point's the main earth at the Curby 
 brake," said Trimbush ; " but old ' fox-fix ' has 
 been there with his spade and pickaxe, I'll be 
 bound." 
 
 The cover spoken of by my companion was 
 quickly gained, and on the slope of a steep 
 bank, thickly twined with the stubborn roots 
 of some neighbouring oaks, we ran straight 
 to the mouth of a closed earth. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" laughed Trimbush, "I said so. 
 If he had poked his nose underground here, 
 they might have dug for a week to no 
 purpose." 
 
 Foxhound u 
 
 *%2^> > Zff^£ t 
 
We now carried it through the brake, and, 
 sinking some rising ground, entered Bushford 
 woodlands. Here the small enclosures and 
 thick fences began to tell both upon us and 
 the field, and instead of carrying a head in one 
 close and compact body, many began to tail 
 and string in the rear. As near as I can 
 guess we had ran ten miles from the find 
 without the check of a moment, when we 
 threw up at a gate leading into a road. We 
 flew over it, and saw an old woman with 
 a red cloak on, screaming most lustily; but 
 whether from fright or joy I could not 
 discover. 
 
 To the left we went, but not making it 
 out, turned short to the right, when Will 
 blowing a " come-to-me," off we swept to 
 the summons. 
 
 " I saw it, sir," I heard the old woman 
 shriek ; " I saw it, sir, as plain as the nose on 
 your face, jump over the gate and then jump 
 back again, And it's put me all in such a 
 twitter that " 
 
 A twang, twang from the horn drowned 
 the conclusion of the old woman's delivery, 
 and, trying back, we were quickly on his 
 
line again, and making play at topping 
 
 " I thought," observed Trimbush, " that the 
 old women had headed him ; but it doesn't do 
 for us to try back until we have made our 
 casts good, right and left. It is quite correct 
 for a huntsman to do so if he learns from any 
 cause that the fox has been headed ; but we 
 should not speculate upon chances or 
 accidents." 
 
 We now carried it over some deep fallows, 
 and, being very dry and flying, we had to pick 
 through with great care. It was remarkable 
 to see the difference between the old steady 
 hounds and the young and eager ones in these 
 difficulties. With their noses on the ground, 
 the pilots of the pack felt for the scent here 
 and there, and held it forward with patience 
 and perseverance, while the too ardent and 
 flashy ones dashed in all directions, with as 
 much notion of the line of the fox as that of 
 the rook flying over their heads. After pick- 
 ing through the ploughs we were enabled 
 to up with our heads again, cluster, and go 
 full swing over some small grass fields to a 
 village road, where, unfortunately, some dung 
 
 
had been recently carted, and the horrid smell 
 made me feel ready to vomit. Trimbush felt 
 along the road a considerable distance, as it 
 was down wind, before he was satisfied that 
 this was not his line, and then turning up, 
 made about as wide a cast, but to no purpose. 
 
 " I wonder," said the old hound, both vexed 
 and puzzled, "if he has been headed back?" 
 
 Rubicon, who must have had a remarkably 
 strong stomach, now jumped upon the steam- 
 ing, reeking, stinking heap, and, plunging 
 his nose under a loose portion at the top, drew 
 out the fox by a hind leg. In an instant we 
 flew to his assistance, and for the first and 
 last time in my life I helped to kill a fox on a 
 dung-heap. 
 
 " Well ! " said our master, wiping his bald 
 head, and looking as pleased as at any period 
 that I ever saw him, " we wind up the season 
 with a glorious finish. We were too far be- 
 hind to see," he continued ; " but of course 
 they must have viewed him into the manure.'' 
 
 " No doubt, sir," replied Will, " or he would 
 most likely have beaten us." 
 
 " It only shows," rejoined the Squire, " to 
 what improbable shifts a sinking fox will 
 
have resort. How often men's brains are 
 racked to discover the why and wherefore 
 that a fox could have beaten their judgment 
 and experience, when, perhaps, he may be 
 close to their elbows without the smallest 
 blame to be attached to either hounds or 
 them for his escape." 
 
 " Or merit to his craft and cunning, you 
 might have added," said Trimbush. "For 
 when a fox sinks, not only his physical 
 strength is expended, but his mental powers 
 die with it. He is in such a mortal fright 
 that he cannot think ; but, like a blown chicken, 
 pokes his head into the first hiding-place 
 which presents itself." 
 
 As we were trotting quietly homewards, as 
 proud as peacocks, I saw Trimbush tip Rubicon 
 over the nose with his stern, and drew him 
 from the body on one side of the road. 
 
 " Be candid," said he, in a half whisper. 
 "How was it that you made the fox out in 
 that beastly manure?" 
 
 "I winded him," rejoined Rubicon, with a 
 sly grin. 
 
 " Pshaw ! " replied the old hound. " It was 
 impossible." 
 
" Well, well ! " interrupted Rubicon, " I 
 admit it. I jumped on the heap, and as I did 
 so I felt something move under my feet. 
 A thought struck me " 
 
 "As it did me," interrupted Trimbush, 
 "before commencing your explanation. We 
 owe the kill to chance." 
 
fj^tM i; 
 
 
 " We still have slept together, 
 Hose at an instant, learn' d, play'd, eat together; 
 And wheresoe 'er we went, like Juno's swans, 
 Still we went coupled, and inseparable." 
 
 IT was late in August, and the weather so 
 sultry, that we scarcely knew how to bear 
 with the intense heat. Some did nothing 
 but lap the water, always running in a clear 
 fine stream, from the fountain in the court, 
 and assuaged their thirst by continual sip- 
 ping. Others drank deeply, but seldom ; 
 and all, more or less, evinced the feverish 
 suffering they endured. 
 
 I was lying in a shady corner of the court one 
 one day about noontide, when I happened to 
 notice a hound of the name of Gameboy go 
 two or three times towards the fountain, and 
 then turn from it with a slight shudder. 
 
Rising from the ground, I went towards 
 him and said, "What's the matter?" 
 
 "I don't know," replied he, "but I feel 
 very strange. I'm dreadfully thirsty, and 
 yet cannot go near the water." 
 
 I now perceived that his eyes looked dull 
 and leaden, and his body shook, as if every 
 nerve and sinew were shattered and unstrung. 
 
 " Perhaps you have eaten something that has 
 disagreed with you," returned I. 
 
 " No," added he ; " I picked up a bone in our 
 walk this morning, but that couldn't injure 
 me." 
 
 " What's that wound on your shoulder," I 
 asked. 
 
 "A mere scratch," said he, "I got from a 
 cur three days ago. He flew at me while 
 passing a cottage garden, and just touched 
 me on the skin." 
 
 This intelligence struck me with the most 
 inexpressible uneasiness, and I went to Trim- 
 bush, who was asleep, and waking him, 
 repeated all I had seen and heard. 
 
 In a moment the old hound jumped from 
 his posture of indolence, and approaching 
 Gameboy, regarded him minutely. 
 
"Are you unwell?" said he. 
 
 " Yes," replied Gameboy ; "I never felt so 
 queer before." 
 
 "Are you thirsty?" 
 
 " Awfully so," he rejoined, " and yet cannot 
 drink." 
 
 " But why ? " asked Trimbush. 
 
 Gameboy gave an involuntary shudder, 
 and said, " The sight, and even the noise, of 
 water is more painful than I can describe." 
 
 " Let me see you make an effort to go near 
 it," responded my companion. " Persever- 
 ance may overcome this, seemingly, nervous 
 affection." 
 
 In accordance with the desire, poor 
 Gameboy turned his head towards the 
 fountain, and endeavoured to approach it ; 
 but had scarcely taken a stride in the 
 direction when a spasm appeared to seize 
 him, and with a howl he rushed cowering 
 to the farthest corner of the court. 
 
 The attention of the rest of the hounds 
 was attracted by this, and several were 
 trotting towards him to learn the cause, 
 when Trimbush interposed by saying, "Stay 
 — hes mad ! " 
 
 Foxhound. X 
 
 
 f.\ 
 
 I 
 
 \m\ 
 
As if each had received a shock of elec- 
 tricity, the whole stood still and mute, 
 regarding in silent horror their miserable 
 companion. It is impossible to convey the 
 effect produced upon the communication 
 made thus briefly by Trimbush. Every one 
 seemed not to know what to do or say, until 
 Gameboy, with a white, thick foam dropping 
 from his jaws, sprung upon his feet and 
 rushed towards them. A wild bull would 
 not have scattered us more completely. 
 Frenzied with fear, we flew from the 
 maddened wretch, who rushed staggering 
 at everything in his way, and snapping his 
 jaws with that fury which the mad can 
 only show. 
 
 " Get from him," said Trimbush, in a thick 
 husky voice, and exhibiting the greatest 
 terror. " Pray get from him. It's death if 
 he touches ye." 
 
 The noise in the kennel now became 
 furious. All were stricken with fright, and 
 the howling and cries were most appalling. 
 
 It could scarcely have continued more 
 than a minute, however, when the stentorian 
 voices of Will Sykes and Ned Adams were 
 
heard, calling for "quiet," accompanied by 
 the cracks of a heavy thong. 
 
 " Thanks be to the saints ! " exclaimed 
 Trimbush, "assistance is at hand." 
 
 Immediately afterwards both entered the 
 court, and the huntsman, glancing round, said 
 reproachfully, " What's all this about, eh ? " 
 
 At this juncture Mark the feeder made his 
 appearance, and his eye instantly fell upon 
 Gameboy. I never shall forget the old man's 
 countenance, the moment he saw the hound. 
 A ghastly paleness came over it, and he 
 looked almost stunned with the sight. 
 
 " Great Heaven ! " ejaculated he, holding up 
 both his hands. " Great Heaven, Will, there's 
 madness among 'em ! " 
 
 "What?" said the huntsman, his question 
 sounding like a sharp expression of pain. 
 
 " Madness," repeated Mark, " as sure as we 
 live." 
 
 With staring eyes the huntsman and 
 second whip examined Gameboy at a short 
 distance and, after a slight pause, the former 
 exclaimed, " Tis true ! Run, Ned, and bring 
 the Squire." 
 
 " Get in, get in !" hallooed Mark, and closing 
 
the lodging-room door, we were safe from the 
 attacks of the wretched Gameboy, who was 
 now left alone in the court. 
 
 " Take care," said Will, retreating towards 
 the door ; " he's in a most rabid state." 
 
 " I wonder where it will end," returned 
 Mark, joining the huntsman's side by the 
 door. 
 
 "Who can tell?' rejoined Will, bitterly. 
 " We may lose half of 'em, perhaps." 
 
 " I noticed that he looked rather heavy 
 about the eyes for a day or two," added the 
 feeder, "but I accounted for it through the 
 heat." 
 
 " It was only yesterday," said Will, " that 
 I gave him a dose of black brimstone and 
 lard, seeing that he was feverish." 
 
 " It was a mercy no accident occurred to 
 ye," responded Mark. " A mere scratch from 
 a tooth would have " 
 
 " What's this ? " interrupted a well-known 
 voice, and there stood our master, breathless 
 and exhausted with the speed he had used 
 in attending the summons to the fearful 
 scene. 
 
 "Gameboy, sir," replied Will, pointing to 
 
the convulsed and agonised hound, "is mad 
 beyond a doubt." 
 
 " Are there any more with such symptoms ? " 
 hurriedly asked the Squire, scrutinising the 
 object of their painful attention and interest. 
 
 " We have not had time for a careful 
 examination, sir," returned the huntsman ; 
 " but I saw none as we hastily separated 
 them." 
 
 "You have acted well," said the Squire, 
 " and we must continue the same prompt 
 and sound judgment. Shoot that hound 
 instantly." 
 
 No sooner was the order given than Mark 
 produced a long, single-barrelled flint-gun, 
 with which he was in the habit of slaughter- 
 ing rats about the precincts of the kennel, and 
 handed it to Will. 
 
 "Do it for me," whispered he, with a 
 quivering lip. " I feel quite sick." 
 
 Our feeder hesitated for a second or two ; 
 but after a short struggle with a correspond- 
 ing reluctance to become the executioner, 
 he brought the piece to his shoulder, and 
 drove the charge crashing through Game- 
 boy's brain. Without a perceptible throe 
 
of anguish, poor Gameboy fell lifeless upon 
 the flags, and so ended, to us, this terrible 
 tragedy. 
 
 " Before endeavouring to learn the cause of 
 the disease in him," said the Squire, "draft 
 each hound singly, and let us see whether 
 any have been bitten by him, or if the least 
 cause of fear exists that more must be 
 destroyed." 
 
 " I hope not, sir," returned Will, with a 
 strangely inarticulate voice. " What shall we 
 do if " 
 
 " It's useless to talk of what we shall do," 
 interrupted his master irritably, "until we 
 learn what we can do. Draft the hounds." 
 
 One by one was called from the lodging- 
 room by name, and after minutely examining 
 the eyes, nose, and mouth, every hackle was 
 rubbed back to see if the slightest recent 
 abrasion of the skin had been made. At 
 length it came to my turn, and unfortunately 
 a scratch made by myself, while brushing a 
 flea from my neck in the morning, was found 
 just under my left ear. 
 
 " Reload your gun," said the Squire. 
 
 A trembling seized me at these words, so 
 
that I could scarcely stand, and a film spread 
 itself across my eyes, which nearly blinded 
 me. 
 
 " Oh, sir," exclaimed Will Sykes, " don't 
 have him shot yet. It does not look to me 
 like a bite." 
 
 "But it does to me," replied his master. 
 "What think you, Mark?" 
 
 The old man divided the hackles with his 
 thumb and finger, and after a careful exami- 
 nation pronounced an opinion coinciding with 
 that of the huntsman. 
 
 " I know that the hound is a great 
 favourite with both of ye," said the Squire, 
 "and with good reason. But remember, if 
 from any false feeling of kindness we spare 
 one infected, the entire pack may be lost." 
 
 " I wouldn't do it, sir," returned Mark. " I 
 wouldn't do it, sir," repeated he, "if he was 
 my own child, and I thought him bitten. 
 The intended kindness would be right down 
 cruelty." 
 
 "Still," added our master, shaking his head, 
 11 1 entertain great doubt as to the policy of 
 hesitating to take the safer course. How- 
 ever, let him be shut up by himself and 
 
watched incessantly ; and in the event of 
 the most trifling but certain symptom appear- 
 ing, wait for no instructions from me, but 
 shoot him." 
 
 I was now taken from the court and sub- 
 jected to solitary confinement for six weeks ; 
 but as Tom Holt explained the cause of poor 
 Gameboy's malady, from having seen him 
 attacked by the cur, and all the rest being 
 found free from the smallest likelihood of 
 inoculation, I was permitted to join my com- 
 panions again soon after cub-hunting com- 
 menced. During my involuntary retreat, 
 Mark paid me the greatest attention, and, 
 that I might not be low-spirited for want of 
 company, would often sit upon my bench and 
 chat to me, and croon snatches of old ballads 
 to himself. He took me long walks, too, 
 when his work was done, and altogether the 
 time was spent much more agreeably than 
 might be imagined in the gloom of solitude. 
 
 Hearty was the welcome upon my re- 
 appearance in the court, and each of my 
 friends expressed his warm delight at seeing 
 me again ; although a stranger to our ways 
 and customs might deem the reception some- 
 
what churlish, and of the growling mood. 
 However, we do not " use our tongues for the 
 concealment of our thoughts," and if devoid 
 of the polish of refined manners, we at least 
 possess an equal proportion of their honesty. 
 
 Foxhound 
 
 
" Slow puss'd the night, and now with silver ray, 
 The star of morning ushers in the day ; 
 The shadows fly before the roseate hours, 
 And the chill dew hangs glittering on the flowers 
 The pruning -hook or humble spade to wield, 
 The cheerful labourer hastens to the field." 
 
 " rfi RIFLES ' light as air '" observed Trim - 
 
 I bush, "are frequently of the most 
 
 -L momentous importance. Who could 
 have thought, now," continued he, "that 
 brushing a flea from your neck would have 
 subjected ye to upwards of six weeks' con- 
 finement from all society?" 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed I, " if I could have had 
 any anticipation of such a result, he might 
 have sucked my blood till now." 
 
 "I was in a terrible fright," rejoined 
 my friend, " that they were going to stop its 
 circulation at once." 
 
 "It would have been one of the most un- 
 
^,-r< 
 
 MARK WOULD OFTEN SIT AND CHAT TO ME 
 
justifiable murders ever committed," re- 
 turned I. 
 
 " That may be all very true," added my 
 companion; "but what compensation would 
 the act of injustice have been to you ? " 
 
 " None," replied I. 
 
 "There have been innumerable such-like 
 mistakes committed," said Trimbush, " and 
 never discovered. Fortunately for you, the 
 suspected had the benefit of the doubt." 
 
 "I consider that the Squire was far too 
 hasty in his decision regarding myself," re- 
 sponded I. 
 
 "The convicted always think so," rejoined 
 the old hound. " However," continued he, " I 
 quite agree in the same opinion. There was 
 sufficient cause for fearful apprehension, and 
 it was impossible to calculate the amount of 
 the calamity. But I do not think that any 
 kind of fear should be allowed to exaggerate 
 an injury. To observe sedulous care in pre- 
 venting its extension is most wise and 
 prudent. At the same time, if a hasty panic 
 overrules the cooler judgment, the engendered 
 evil may on evil's head accumulate tenfold. 
 Our master was decidedly wrong in contem- 
 
plating having you destroyed with such slight 
 evidence of questionable inoculation ; but he 
 was quite right in ordering you to be drafted 
 from the rest. The one was an unweighed, ill- 
 judged impulse — the other a wise precaution." 
 
 "A distinction with a material difference," 
 I observed. 
 
 " Yes," replied he, " beyond the shadow of a 
 doubt. I once heard," resumed my friend, 
 "of a M. F. H. having his entire pack 
 destroyed, in consequence of a couple-and-a- 
 half showing symptoms of hydrophobia — or, 
 as we should say, in more intelligible language, 
 a dread of water. Nothing could be more 
 wanton or unjustifiable, and as well might an 
 entire community of human beings be doomed 
 to perish in consequence of one or more of its 
 members becoming insane, as fifty or sixty 
 couple of hounds, from the same cause." 
 
 "Were there any other doubtful cases 
 besides myself ? " I inquired. 
 
 " No," replied Trimbush. " All were turned 
 over with the greatest scrutiny ; but nothing 
 suspicious appearing, we were allowed to re- 
 main as we were, with a great additional 
 watch being kept over us. In fact, Mark, or 
 
Will Sykes, was always close by, for a long 
 time after Ganieboy's death ; and if a hound 
 growled even in his dream, one or the other 
 was at hand in a moment. I never saw 
 greater vigilance ; and I can't help thinking 
 that the two kept an eye open for weeks in 
 their sleep." 
 
 The tramp of three horses approaching the 
 kennel door, put an end to this our first con- 
 versation since the fatal occurrence of Game- 
 boy's death. 
 
 " Let 'em out, Mark," said a well-known 
 voice, and as the feeder threw back the door, 
 we scrambled from the court, and ran and 
 jumped in sportive circles about the horses. 
 Although in the highest state of excitement, 
 every tongue was mute, and a slight crack 
 from Tom Holt's whip put a considerable 
 check to the rather violent gambols of a few 
 of the youngest. It was not quite daylight, 
 as we trotted along between three and four 
 miles ; and as we entered a gate at the end of 
 a by-lane, who should be standing with his 
 reins over his arm, and leaning carelessly 
 against the side of his horse, but our " up- 
 with-the-lark" and excellent master. 
 
" You are behind your time, William," said 
 he, throwing himself into his saddle. 
 
 "Begging your pardon, sir," replied the 
 huntsman, tugging at the curb chain securing 
 his thick watch in a very deep fob, " I think 
 not." 
 
 " By seven minutes," rejoined his master. 
 
 " Quite right, sir," added Will, looking at his 
 apoplectic time-keeper. " Seven minutes have 
 given me the slip." 
 
 "No matter," returned the Squire; "we 
 have scarcely light enough as it is." 
 
 The narrow zig-zag lane led on to a large 
 open grass field, on the borders of which was 
 one of the best and strongest covers in our 
 country. 
 
 " Who has examined this cover?" asked the 
 Squire. 
 
 " Tom Holt, sir," replied the huntsman. 
 
 " Where did you find most billets ? " 
 
 " In the field beyond this, sir," replied the 
 whipper-in, with a touch of his cap. 
 
 "Very good," rejoined his master. "Then 
 take them there, William," continued he, 
 " and let the puppies see the old hounds 
 feel for the scent." 
 
No sooner were we in the field spoken of 
 by Tom Holt, than stooping my nose to the 
 ground, I inhaled that scent, which, from the 
 first, sent my blood tingling through my 
 whole body. Several began to hustle, push, 
 and fling themselves about, and one, named 
 Harbinger, threw his tongue. 
 
 " So-oftly, Harbinger, so-oftly," said Will. 
 "You're as noisy as ever, I see." 
 
 " He's incorrigible," replied the Squire. 
 "Put him away." 
 
 " We shall cure him after a few more trials, 
 sir, I hope," rejoined the huntsman, who 
 could never bear to have one of us destroyed. 
 
 "He should have been cured before this," 
 rejoined his master, "and if not removed 
 he will render others as bad as himself. I 
 hate a noisy hound," continued he, " and I'm 
 certain no drilling will stop Harbinger from 
 riot and babbling. There is no vice so 
 contagious and injurious as the one he pos- 
 sesses and persists in ; and to use further 
 forbearance in retaining him in the pack 
 would be most unwise. You know, last 
 season, that after being flogged three times in 
 one day, for riot at hare, he repeated the 
 
fault whenever he had the chance, and 
 thought the whips could not get at him." 
 
 " He's to go then, sir ? " said Will. 
 
 " The sooner the better," replied the Squire. 
 " I wish to have my hounds so perfect, that if 
 any one of them speaks in cover, you may be 
 certain that it's a fox, and know that he may 
 be cheered without fear of a mistake. Unless 
 this be the case, what pleasure can there be 
 to me, as their master, or satisfaction to you, 
 as their huntsman ? " 
 
 Will gave no answer, and to account for the 
 obstinate Harbinger's fate, all I can say is, 
 that he was led from the kennel the following 
 day with a coil of rope round his neck. 
 
 We now carried the drag into the cover, 
 and Trimbush and myself acknowledged the 
 scent. Will gave us a cheer that startled 
 many a pigeon from her roost, and Tom Holt 
 and Ned Adams spurred right and left, with 
 orders to head short back every fox that 
 made his appearance. We got up to our cub, 
 and drove him through the cover at a slash- 
 ing rate. The morning being warm, and the 
 scent good, there was no breathing-time, and 
 the pace soon began to tell upon the family 
 
of foxes, which we were now racing in 
 divided lots. 
 
 " How many of them are there ? " inquired 
 the Squire. 
 
 " Not less than two brace and a half, sir," 
 replied the huntsman. 
 
 " Very good," rejoined his master. " Let 
 the vixen go if she will." 
 
 He then galloped towards Tom Holt, and 
 just as he was about cracking his whip, a 
 signal from the Squire stopped him. 
 
 " Come from this corner," said he, " and let 
 the old one go, and as soon as these hounds 
 come out with the scent, stop them, and take 
 them to William." 
 
 Scarcely were the instructions given, when 
 the vixen took advantage of the opportunity, 
 and broke away at her best pace. The lot 
 settled to her were stopped, and taken to the 
 huntsman at the top of a ride, in about the 
 middle of the cover. 
 
 Being joined in one body, we now pressed 
 our cub most severely ; and I viewed him 
 cross two or three rides with his red rag out, 
 in a truly sinking condition. 
 
 "This cub is very much distressed, sir," 
 
 Foxhound Z 
 
observed the huntsman, "and if they don't 
 get one of the others up, for they have all 
 dropped but this, they'll soon run into him." 
 
 I now heard a succession of cracks from a 
 thong, which I knew to be Ned Adams's. 
 
 " He's headed a fox back," said Trimbush, 
 exultingly, "but it isn't our hunted one. 
 He's out — come along." 
 
 A bunch of us swept from the side of the 
 cover, and with heads up dashed across a 
 field, before Will was aware that we had got 
 away. 
 
 " They're out, by Heaven ! " exclaimed the 
 huntsman. "Where can Ned be?" 
 
 " All right," returned the Squire. " They 
 broke from the side, and no one's to blame." 
 
 We carried the scent through the first 
 hedge into a summerland, and threw up. 
 Will, coming up, took hold of us rather 
 hastily, and cast us down wind. 
 
 " Gently, William, gently," said his master, 
 reprovingly. "You appear to have for- 
 gotten the golden rule of letting them 
 alone." 
 
 We felt down wind for some distance, but 
 not making it out, turned up, and as we were 
 
 /** 
 
passing the spot where we had jumped 
 through the hedge, a thought struck me 
 that the cub might be skulking in the ditch 
 on the other side. Popping my nose down, I 
 dropped into it, and finding instantly that 
 I was right, I rushed through the brambles, 
 and just as he was about to spring out, I 
 caught him across a tender part, and with one 
 pinch, he was as dead as a salt herring. 
 
 " Who-whoop ! " hallooed the Squire. 
 " Who-whoop, my beauty ! " 
 
 To the envy of most of my companions, I 
 received great praise for this kill from our 
 master, who seemed not to know how to 
 make enough of me, on our road home. 
 
 " Yo-o, Ringwood ! " cried he, throwing me 
 a bit of biscuit from his pocket. "Yo-o, 
 Ringwood, darling," and then turning to 
 Will, said, " What a mercy such a hound as 
 that was not destroyed through my haste ! " 
 
 " Ay, sir," returned the huntsman, with a 
 knowing shake of the head. " If we have as 
 good, we've none better." 
 
 " Thanks to my instructions," growled 
 Trimbush. 
 
 " Come, come," said I, " don't be jealous of 
 
the little praise I'm getting. You receive 
 your share." 
 
 " Jealous ? " repeated my companion, with a 
 proud lash of his stern, " I natter myself that 
 I can afford to be generous" 
 
 Seeing, however, that he was a little 
 annoyed at the attention I received, I said 
 nothing more, but jogged in silence by the 
 side of the Squire's horse. 
 
 " By the way," said our master, addressing 
 Will, " in speaking of haste, let this morning 
 be another lesson to you, not to take your 
 hounds off their noses with a sinking fox. 
 More are lost by that than by any other 
 mistake committed. There was every proba- 
 bility of your leaving your fox behind in 
 the ditch, and then you would have said that 
 he had headed back to the cover. A fresh 
 one would have been got up, and the error 
 remained undiscovered. Countless foxes, 
 booked safe to die, are changed in this 
 manner, and escape from no other reason 
 than from taking hounds off their noses. 
 Remember this, William." 
 
 The huntsman touched his cap, and the 
 conversation dropped. 
 
Having doubtlessly made every note of 
 value which could be drawn from his ex- 
 perience, Ringwood's memoir here ends from 
 want of material, and the earnest disposition 
 on the part of his biographer of wishing to 
 prove neither monotonous nor wearisome. 
 It was deemed by that wise hound that a 
 history or tale, when told, should, like a fox, 
 when killed, be broken up and finished. To 
 his, therefore, we will give an appropriate one 
 in a ringing 
 
 Who-whoop ! 
 
UNTVIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, 
 WOKING AND LONDON 
 
jvtti.mts