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diff --git a/old/52307-h/52307-h.htm b/old/52307-h/52307-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 3855df7..0000000 --- a/old/52307-h/52307-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7190 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life of a Foxhound, by John Mills. - </title> - - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - -<style type="text/css"> - -a { - text-decoration: none; -} - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb { - width: 45%; - margin-left: 27.5%; - margin-right: 27.5%; -} - -hr.chap { - width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -hr.r15 { - width: 15%; - margin-left: 42.5%; - margin-right: 42.5%; -} - -p { - margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -table { - margin: 1em auto 1em auto; - max-width: 40em; -} - -table.editions { - margin: 3em auto 0 auto; -} - -td { - padding-left: 0.25em; - padding-right: 0.25em; - vertical-align: top; -} - -.caption { - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-size: 90%; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.center { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.footnotes { - border: dashed 1px; -} - -.footnote { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - font-size: 0.9em; -} - -.footnote .label { - position: absolute; - right: 84%; - text-align: right; -} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: none; -} - -.noindent { - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.larger { - font-size: 150%; -} - -.letter-sig { - margin-left: 50%; - padding-left: 3em; - text-indent: -3em; -} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 4%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} - -.poetry-container { - text-align: center; - margin: 1em; -} - -.poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; - font-size: 90%; -} - -.poetry .stanza { - margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; -} - -.poetry .verse { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - -.poetry .indent2 { - text-indent: -2em; -} - -.right { - text-align: right; -} - -.smaller { - font-size: 80%; -} - -.smcap { - font-variant: small-caps; - font-style: normal; -} - -.tdr { - text-align: right; -} - -.titlepage { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 3em; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -@media handheld { - -img { - max-width: 100%; - width: auto; - height: auto; -} - -.letter-sig { - margin-left: 20%; - padding-left: 3em; - text-indent: -3em; -} - -.poetry { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; -} -} - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of a Foxhound, by John Mills - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Life of a Foxhound - -Author: John Mills - -Illustrator: John Leech - -Release Date: June 11, 2016 [EBook #52307] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p class="center larger">THE<br /> -LIFE OF A<br /> -FOXHOUND.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;" id="frontispiece"> -<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MEET.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="titlepage">THE<br /> -LIFE OF A<br /> -<span class="larger">FOXHOUND.</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">BY<br /> -<span class="larger">JOHN MILLS,</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF “THE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN,” “THE LIFE OF A<br /> -RACEHORSE,” ETC.</span></p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p class="center">THE FIFTH EDITION,<br /> -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY<br /> -<span class="larger">JOHN LEECH.</span></p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"> -<img src="images/publisher.jpg" width="100" height="137" alt="PHILIP ALLAN (publisher's mark)" /> -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">LONDON<br /> -<span class="larger">PHILIP ALLAN & CO.</span><br /> -QUALITY COURT, CHANCERY LANE</p> - -<table summary="editions" class="editions"> - <tr> - <td>First Edition</td><td class="tdr">1848</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Second Edition</td><td class="tdr">1861</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Third Edition</td><td class="tdr">1892</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Fourth Edition</td><td class="tdr">1910</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Fifth Edition</td><td class="tdr">1921</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="titlepage smaller">Printed by <span class="smcap">Whitehead Bros., Wolverhampton</span>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>TO<br /> -HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS<br /> -THE PRINCE OF WALES<br /> -K.G., G.M.M.G., G.M.B.E., M.C., &c.</h2> - -<p class="noindent">SIR,</p> - -<p>That fox-hunting is an ancient and honourable -pastime all will agree: ancient in that the fox -was held to be a beast of venery by our Anglo-Saxon -ancestors, honourable because it is a sport -that has ever been associated with those excellent -qualities of manhood which are the prerogative of -our race. That it is a royal pastime is equally -plain: for hunting has been regarded, in all ages, -as the chief sport of Kings and Princes. Indeed -it is due principally to the encouragement and -protection accorded to it by the Royal House of -England that the noble sport of fox-hunting is in -so flourishing a condition to-day. And so it is -both fitting and proper, Sir, that this, the fifth -edition of a notable contribution to our sporting -literature, should be dedicated to you who uphold -so admirably the traditions of British sport.</p> - -<p class="letter-sig">Your Royal Highness’s<br /> -humble, obedient servant,</p> - -<p class="right">THE EDITOR.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p>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 autobiography 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 -experience.</p> - -<p>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 omissions -of the former, he was equally ready, at all -times, to show his teeth to the latter.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> - -<table summary="List of illustrations"> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">The Meet</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">“Head and Hands will beat Heels”</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">A Curious Finish</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">“Hold Har-r-r-d!”</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td>CHAPTER.</td><td class="tdr">PAGE.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND.</h1> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> - -<p>I had the excellent fortune, begins Ringwood’s -memoir, to be put at walk at a -farm-house, where I enjoyed the treatment -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 puppyhood passed. I mention these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -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 -had not seen each other since the day of -separation.</p> - -<p>Sorry as I was to leave my kind benefactors, -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 huntsmen and whips -than any other of the young entry therein -assembled, consisting of eleven couples and a -half.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Look at them shoulders and elbows too,” -rejoined the first whip.</p> - -<p>“And what a muzzle!” returned the -second.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Bless’d if he ain’t perfect symmetry!” -echoed the feeder, after a long and silent gaze.</p> - -<p>“I <em>do</em> think he is,” added the huntsman, -emphatically. “Or if he isn’t, <em>I</em> can’t see a -bad point in him.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” replied one of my brothers, -snappishly, “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.</p> - -<p>“As for me,” said my other fraternal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -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, -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 over-matched -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.”</p> - -<p>“Let me hope that my sisters were more -fortunate,” said I.</p> - -<p>“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 hardships -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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -missed or stolen, it was invariably laid to our -charge; so that we could not even put our -heads into a doorway 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, -sometimes 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.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“No, no,” returned the feeder, shaking -his head. “You’ll not find the Squire do -that: we must keep ’em for their blood.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“And don’t want to have,” rejoined the -feeder, “with such a master as the Squire is.”</p> - -<p>Soon after my entry I was taken under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -protection of an old hound called Trimbush, -and the favourite one in the pack. He had -been hunted six seasons, and, as may be -supposed, was awake to every wrinkle.</p> - -<p>“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 -perform 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.”</p> - -<p>“Does he?” replied I, believing, in my -innocence, that such a good-tempered, laughing -fellow would scarcely brush a fly from our -hackles.</p> - -<p>“So you’ll say,” continued my friend, -“when you’ve tasted it.”</p> - -<p>“But I mean to avoid flogging,” I -rejoined, “by obeying orders.”</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -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 -peculiarities concerning your companions.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said I to the friendly offer.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -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 acting the -tyrant yourself; although,” continued Trimbush, -with a growl at the reminiscence, “the -results proved the same here not more than -three seasons since.”</p> - -<p>“How was that?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“Can’t say,” rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“Killed and ate him,” returned Trimbush, -with no more concern than if speaking of the -death of a rabbit.</p> - -<p>“Killed and ate him!” repeated I, -horrified.</p> - -<p>“Ay,” rejoined he, “marrow, bones, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -all, with the exception of his head.”<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This took place some years since in Mr. Conyer’s -kennel, at Copthall, Essex.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Dog eat dog!” I exclaimed, scarcely -believing the statement to be true.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“But it served all of you right,” -interrupted I.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it did,” rejoined Trimbush; -“but we thought otherwise, and no sooner -had Ned turned his back than we commenced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“Eaten!” I ejaculated.</p> - -<p>“We didn’t leave,” replied my friend -deliberately, and dropping his words like peas -from his jaws, “even his <em>head</em>.”</p> - -<p>“But why was this done?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“The simplicity of infancy is truly refreshing!” -observed Trimbush. “There’s -an adage, that a dead dog <em>may</em> tell how he was -killed,” continued he; “but an <em>eaten</em> one -never can. Do you comprehend?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” responded I.</p> - -<p>“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.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And a very good one too,” I remarked; -“but don’t let me interrupt you. Pray proceed.”</p> - -<p>“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 cherries -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 frequently -inherit the peculiarities of our fathers and -mothers, as they do. You see that black-and-tan -hound basking in the sun?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“That’s Valentine. Now, his father, -who was killed from a kick three years ago, -always trotted to and from kennel just under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“That appears to be innate laziness,” I -observed.</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Trimbush. “So far from -that being the case, there never were better -working hounds on earth.”</p> - -<p>“Then how do you account for it?” -inquired I.</p> - -<p>“There are many things,” returned Trimbush, -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.”</p> - -<p>“Are these the only two instances coming -under your observation?” I asked.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -buzzing about him? Well, he is a nephew of -mine, and makes it a rule, as his father did, -to carry home whatever part of the varmint -that falls to his share, and never eats it, unless -there is a great chance of its being dragged -away from him, till he gets to the kennel -door.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he wishes to show everybody on -the road that he had a hand in the breaking -up,” said I.</p> - -<p>“I think vanity has something to do with -it,” replied my friend; “but if so, he inherits -the pride from his sire, just as those -peculiarities I have named are inborn in -others.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose, if these habits descend from -parent to child,” I observed, “that vices are -also inheritable.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It appears to me somewhat harsh, then,” -rejoined I, “to punish us for them.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a matter,” added Trimbush, “I -must leave to be decided between you and Ned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -Adams;” and then turning upon his side he -closed his eyes, and a deep, low snore quickly -proclaimed him to be in the land of shadowy -dreams.</p> - -<p>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. Trimbush, -too, essayed to relieve me from my load of -misery, and recounted many a tale of interest -to wean me from gloomy reflections; but it was -all to no purpose. I could not forget the -pleasures of home.</p> - -<p>“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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -“Let him go cub-hunting once, and he will -not sulk another hour.”</p> - -<p>“I believe ye,” rejoined the feeder. -“There’s too good blood in him for that, -after he has winded a fox.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“But, look! the morn, in russet mantle clad,</div> -<div class="verse">Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastern hill.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The 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 glowworm’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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -folded blossoms opened to her kiss. Wild and -happy birds heralded her coming, and all -things of the day welcomed her.</p> - -<p>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 suppress -the delight I felt in going to cover; and, -instead of the homesick and sullen feeling -which I had had for a length of time, I was -ready to jump out of my skin with spirits.</p> - -<p>“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 invitation -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.”</p> - -<p>“I could race for thirty miles this morning, -without a check!” replied I, boastfully.</p> - -<p>“Pooh, pooh!” rejoined Trimbush; -“that’s the way with you young-uns—all -brag and self-conceit; and when it comes to -hard running, where are ye in a brace of -shakes? Somewhat in this form,” continued -he, hanging down his head, with outstretched -tongue and drooping stern.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>I laughed heartily at Trimbush’s acting a -fagged and beaten hound; and, although I -had not seen one at the time, I subsequently -learned that it was a very faithful representation.</p> - -<p>“One would think, from that puppy’s -gambolsome larking,” observed the huntsman, -pointing to me, “that he knows what he’s -going about.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he do,” sagely returned Tom -Holt.</p> - -<p>“How the devil should he?” rejoined -Will Sykes. “Isn’t this his first day’s cub-hunting?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” added the first whip. “But don’t -you think them dumb animals have a language -of their own? I’m blest if they don’t almost -talk to us sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed Will Sykes. -“You’re a pretty kind of a Christian, Tom. -I suppose, by-an’-bye, you’ll say they sing -hymns.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Come, come,” said the huntsman, in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -correcting tone; “try back, Tom. We shall -have stones fall from the clouds presently, -if you go on in that way.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did,” -replied 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.”</p> - -<p>“Ca-a-pital!” added Will Sykes admiringly. -“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?”</p> - -<p>“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 <em>to</em> them, and a great deal, in my -opinion, of what we say <em>of</em> 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.”</p> - -<p>“Your notions are queer ones, Tom,” -observed the huntsman. “And you’d have -me believe, I suppose, that Ringwood there -has been <em>told</em> what he’s going to do?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing more likely,” replied Tom Holt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> - -<p>We were now on the verge of Wiverton -Gorse—an extensive brake of some forty acres -of high but not thick furze, except in patches -where it had been lately cut.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let a hound get away,” said the -huntsman. “We’ll rattle the covers well; -but be sure and hold the hounds in.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“That’s for not waiting orders,” observed -Trimbush.</p> - -<p>“Cover-hoik! cover-hoik!” hallooed the -huntsman; “Elooin-hoik!” and into the -brake we crashed like a flash of lightning.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better keep by me,” observed -Trimbush, “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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -puppy, that a dying fox stood before ye, -instead of not having so much as found one.”</p> - -<p>But I was in no humour to be dictated to; -and in spite of lacerating the corners of my -eyes, 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“War hare, puppy!” hallooed he, riding -at me, and cracking his heavy whip. “War -hare! war hare! Hark back! hark back!”</p> - -<p>Learning that I had committed an error, I -was not slow to obey the caution, by getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“Hoik to Trimbush!” hallooed the huntsman—“Hoik -to Trimbush!” and, as a -bunch of hounds took up the cry, he added, -“Hoik together, hoik!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Don’t jingle your tongue as if you were -currant-jelly hunting,” said Trimbush, contemptuously, -as I joined his side. “A -workman,” continued he, “never wastes his -breath with too much whistling.”</p> - -<p>Feeling that there was truth in his chiding, -I changed my tone, and gave tongue only -when my friend did.</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” remarked Trimbush,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -flattered at my observing his dictate: “now -you sound like business.”</p> - -<p>“Have at him!” hallooed Will Sykes. -“Yoo-oo-it, hoik!”</p> - -<p>Hounds were now hunting in every -direction of the cover; and it was evident -that several foxes were before them.</p> - -<p>“The vixen and the whole litter are -a-foot!” I overheard the first whip say.</p> - -<p>“Did you view her?” inquired Will Sykes.</p> - -<p>“Yes!” was the reply; “and she’s gone -away.”</p> - -<p>“Then there’s a dog-fox behind,” rejoined -the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“You know the difference, then?” -returned I.</p> - -<p>“Ay,” rejoined Trimbush; “as well as if -I had helped to break her up. And so will -you in a couple of seasons.”</p> - -<p>“But how?” asked I.</p> - -<p>“By experience,” replied my companion;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -“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.”</p> - -<p>“Who-whoop,” hallooed the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“They’ve chopped a cub,” said Trimbush. -“Now’s our time, if Ned Adams doesn’t -head him back.”</p> - -<p>A succession of loud cracks from a whip -followed; but no halloo was given.</p> - -<p>“He’s gone away,” remarked Trimbush, -with glee; “and we’ll be on good terms with -him. Stick to me.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Now then,” said Trimbush cheerily; “up -with your head and down with your stern. -Come along, the scent’s a burning one.”</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -Hearing the heavy stride of a horse in our -rear, I turned my head to see who was -following.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“What the deuce does he want to stop us -for?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“Pooh,” rejoined Trimbush. “Rattle on.”</p> - -<p>The second whip came spurring on with the -evident desire of reaching us; but the faster -he came, the faster we flew.</p> - -<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed Trimbush; “we’ll -give ye a sob for it.”</p> - -<p>Along two open grass fields we led the -whipper-in; and then, for more than a mile, -up a long, narrow lane, flanked by two high -banks.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t carried a bit of scent since we -left the turf,” observed I.</p> - -<p>“Nor I either,” replied my companion.</p> - -<p>“Then what’s the use of flashing on in this -way?” I asked.</p> - -<p>“You’ve no cunning in ye yet,” replied -Trimbush, “or you wouldn’t ask such a -simple question. However, so much the better.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -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 stop, and if we had we could do nothing -with the scent on this hard, dry road: but -having found our fox <em>up</em> wind, and as he -turned <em>down</em> upon breaking cover, I know -that he will <em>not</em> 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.”</p> - -<p>“But we shall have no chance of making a -cast,” said I, “with Ned at our sterns.”</p> - -<p>“I know the point he’s making for,” -returned 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 <em>do</em> -like,” continued he, “a run o’ this kind. -There’s a spice about anything stolen.”</p> - -<p>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 -became wedged together like one solid body.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“Now we’re all right,” said Trimbush, -exultingly; “and we shall have it to ourselves -in spite of ’em.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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 us 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -you think he’s gone; and, having made that -good, it’s quite time enough to take the -other.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“We are all right,” said he, exultingly. -“We’ll either kill or burst him to earth.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“But we are not thrown off generally at -this hour, are we?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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 -waiting at the cover-side for daylight. But -fox-hunting, like most other things, has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -undergone 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.”</p> - -<p>“Which afforded most sport, do you -think?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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 everything 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 <em>I</em> am an advocate for slow -hunting:—for the enjoyment of sport, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“Still,” said I, beginning to pant for wind -as we rattled up a steep hill, with the scent -improving, 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.”</p> - -<p>“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, <em>hunted</em> -their fox as well, if not better, than we who -now <em>race</em> him down.”</p> - -<p>“Your judgment’s an impartial one,” -returned I.</p> - -<p>“Good or bad, better or worse,” resumed -Trimbush, “it’s no use arguing about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -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 o’ day. Chink-wink ’em -along!’”</p> - -<p>“There’s no time given, then?” said I.</p> - -<p>“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!’ -‘Consume 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!’”</p> - -<p>“A pretty kind of a foxhunter, truly!” I -remarked.</p> - -<p>“A faithful description of the majority, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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 often-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.</p> - -<p>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 stand-still. Ignorant of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>For that night I was housed in my old -home, and the following day again conducted -to the kennel.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve told ye twenty times already,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -replied Ned Adams, in a tone and manner -portraying his humour, “that the devil -himself couldn’t get to their heads. I did my -best, and, like many o’ my betters, was -beaten.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It was Trimbush, and not him,” -returned the irate Ned.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” added Will Sykes, “It was Trimbush, -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.”</p> - -<p>The second whip was evidently chafed at -this bantering, and turned away with a -flushed cheek, and a tongue muttering anything -but his prayers.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to see you back again,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -observed Trimbush, raising himself from a -corner of the court, and stretching his limbs. -“I began to think some danger had befallen -ye.”</p> - -<p>“No thanks to you for having escaped it,” -replied I, somewhat sharply.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” rejoined the old hound, carelessly: -“in a run it’s every hound for himself, and -a kick for the hindmost. There’s no -consideration then.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do with the varmint?” -inquired I, anxious to learn the result of our -hunt.</p> - -<p>“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.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Did you see Ned Adams upon your -return?” I inquired.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“The second whip would not have treated -ye so,” I observed.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -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, <em>when the purpose is to -eat them</em>. 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.”</p> - -<p>“What!” exclaimed I. “Won’t a fox -snap a pheasant from her nest?”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“The farmer’s wife tells a different story,” -I observed.</p> - -<p>“The farmer’s wife, like the gamekeeper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -is a sworn enemy to foxes,” returned Trimbush, -“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 forgotten. -The old trot dates her subsequent life from -the event, and begins her tale with, ‘About -six months after the fox took my duck,’ and -so keeps the matter fresh and vivid to the end -of her days.”</p> - -<p>“One would think you were a preserver -instead of a killer of foxes,” said I.</p> - -<p>“Ay,” rejoined the speaker; “if it was -not for preserving, we should have no opportunities -of killing.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“We will, fair queen, up to the mountain’s top,</div> -<div class="verse">And mark the musical confusion</div> -<div class="verse">Of hounds, and echo in conjunction.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Will Sykes was designed by nature for a -huntsman. With a short stature and wiry -frame, he possessed activity, indomitable -courage, patience, and judgment. His voice, -too, seemed to come from his heart, as he -cheered with lusty lungs; and his strong grey -eyes encompassed a whole parish, when he -threw them forward for a view. Good -humour sat upon his lip, and there was a -great secret in his possession, of being capable -of pleasing everybody without any apparent -effort. Proud—perhaps a little vain—was -our Will of his exterior; but then there might -be sufficient cause; for although his short-cropped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -hair was grizzled and frosted by -time, and a few wrinkles—albeit the joint -effects of laughter and age—were stamped on -his ruddy cheeks, few could boast of a larger -circle of admirers. Will could never pass -through a village, in pink and boots, but -old women and young—but more especially -the young—and mothers and maids flocked -to their cottage doors and windows to -exchange nods and friendly greetings with -him. Ladies, too, of the first degree -acknowledged his polite lift of the cap with -friendly smiles, and, at convenient seasons, -inquired after the health of Mrs. Sykes, and -took quite an interest in sundry other of his -domesticities and household economy. And -was the huntsman’s better half—the plump, -the prim, the comely Mrs. Sykes—jealous of -these attentions? By no means. That -excellent and discriminating person considered -that the favour in which Will was -held by the gentle and simple might be -ascribed to her tactics and general measures -of expediency; and popularity, she had cogent -reasons for supposing, had greatly to do with -the liberal capping so invariably bestowed -upon the huntsman, whenever his right and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -title to the gratuity accrued. Worthy indeed -is the care to be recorded with which the -worthy dame bleached and starched the -cravat, folded and tied without a crease, -around Will’s neck. The white cords, too, -stained as they have been in many a run, with -the mud flying in showers over them, are -spotless, and without a speck to note the wear -and tear of bygone seasons. His tops also -bore evidence of a division of Mrs. Sykes’s -accomplishments. Scratched and rubbed, it is -true, they were; but no erasible mark was -permitted to remain. His spurs, too, glittered -again; and in short, “no baron or squire, or -knight of the shire,” had greater attention -paid to his toilet than had our huntsman.</p> - -<p>“Personal appearance,” observed Mrs. -Sykes to Will, one evening, sitting in a cozy -corner of his parlour, in a dreamy, winking, -blinking state, lulled by the influence of a -blazing yule log—“personal appearance,” -repeated she, somewhat louder, “is necessary -for personal respect; and unless we look as if -we respected ourselves, it’s unreasonable to -suppose that other people will go for to -respect us. We must best know,” continued -she, “our own in’ards; and if we show, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -our out’ards, that they’re all gammon and -bacon, rest assured they won’t pass as the -<em>best</em> of chitlins.”</p> - -<p>And was it for this, then—this worldly -object—that Mrs. Sykes might be seen on -every succeeding Sunday, volume in hand, -walking with stately and measured tread -along the path leading to the gray-mossed and -ivy-twined church? Was it for this that the -ribbed silk dress and most treasured bonnet -were donned on the seventh day, when the -likelihood was great of many eyes beholding -them? Was it for this that, from the bright -buckle in her shoe to the topmost ribbon stuck -jauntily to flutter in the breeze, Mrs. Sykes -evinced such elaborate taste and dainty care? -Mrs. Sykes, like countless hosts of her betters, -would have been justly indignant had such -prying interrogatories been put to her for -solution, however blandly they might have -been effected; and as there is no confession on -her part, and no justifiable ground for speculation -in the replies, they must remain -unanswered to the end of time.</p> - -<p>Tom Holt, the first whipper-in, and consequently -second in command, was a very -different <i lang="la">genus homo</i> to our huntsman. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -may already have been learned from his -expressed opinions and sentiments, he -possessed strange quirks and notions, and, to -use his own graphic description of his -imaginary pedigree, might have been “a -cross between a bull-dog and a flat iron.” -Much nice sophism might be used to support -the poetical origin of Tom Holt; but if -volumes were written to define his allegory -more clearly, the end could not be more satisfactorily -arrived at than by briefly saying, -“it can far more easily be conceived than -described.” Tom was a reflective man; he -could not see an infant in its mother’s arms -without the endeavour to picture to his vivid -imagination how it would look when blear-eyed -with age. A piece of thistle-down, whirling -here and there, now catching in a bramble, -and then skimming along in its varied, -uncertain course, would make him think of -“cause and effect” for an hour. A dew-drop, -a feather in the air, a film of gossamer, -often set Tom Holt “a-thinking” for the -livelong day. He was a dreamer, and had -more strange fantasies, with eyes wide and -staring open, than a thousand such will-o’-the -wisps fanned by the fairies’ midwife, Queen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -Mab. And yet Tom Holt, although his face -was pale and thin, and his dark hazel eyes -always bore a serious look, enjoyed right -heartily his duties, and all thereunto pertaining. -He studied the attributes and affections -of the animals with which he had to deal, and -took little less delight in the cunning and -subtle tricks of the crafty fox than he did in -the sagacity of his darling hounds hunting -him. Like many enthusiasts, however, Tom -went very strange lengths upon occasions; and -it was generally reported in a wide ring in -the country, that he asserted, when “much -wrought,” at the Duck and Gridiron, upon a -memorable occasion, “that a spider might -teach a weaver more in one hour, than he -could learn in a seven years’ apprenticeship.” -Be this as it may, there is no doubt whatever -that, upon Tom’s recovering consciousness -from a stunning fall, causing the blood to -flow from his nose profusely, he remarked, -brushing a few of the sanguinary drops from -the tip of it, that, “he did not see why they -shouldn’t be blue instead of red.” This is an -ascertained and acknowledged fact, and, -without further detail of his oddities and -eccentricities, Tom Holt must be left, like the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -cork against the tide, to work his own way.</p> - -<p>It appears indispensable—stale as the -necessity may prove—to introduce the persons -spoken of previously to relating the scenes and -incidents in which they may assist. The -second whip, Ned Adams, therefore, must not -be permitted to escape notice altogether, like -one of immaterial consequence and account; -and although slight will be the sketch of his -virtues, vices, and tendencies, still, to render -that which is justly due is but to yield the -very bare bones of common honesty. As with -the greater number of second whippers-in, -Ned was a connexion of the huntsman, and -had the right—needlessly, be it said, on the -maternal side—to call him “uncle,” Ned’s -uncle embraced divers opportune occasions to -impress upon his nephew’s mind the onerous -duty and essential service which may be -performed by a whipper-in if he will only -<em>keep in his place</em>. “But,” observed the -huntsman, “most of you hot-blooded young -’uns are so eager to get for’ard, that ye forget -the first principles of what you ought to do, -and instead of keeping behind, to bring on the -tail hounds, hang me if you don’t jam to the -sterns of the leading ones.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It’s more than mortal patience can -endure,” replied Ned, by way of justification, -“to stick in the rear on some occasions.”</p> - -<p>“But your duty, Ned,” seriously rejoined -Will Sykes, “won’t bear excuse. It’s as -much your place to be behind hounds as it is -mine to be with them. In my judgment,” -continued he, “there are but these couple of -proper causes for a whip to be seen for’ard:—when -hounds are to be stopped, and when -ordered to clap to an open earth or hold a -fox in covert, if not on such terms that we -can run him.”</p> - -<p>“But you seldom give me the chance of -doing the last,” returned his nephew.</p> - -<p>“And the less the better,” added Will -Sykes. “It’s too much like mobbing a fox -to please me; but still there are occasions, as -in lifting hounds, to justify us in so doing. If -the scent be cold and the fox a long way -ahead, so that hounds can’t hunt, we must, -in order to have any chance, get them nearer -to him, and then it is that a whip may get -for’ard to the point and head him in.”</p> - -<p>“But this only applies to a fresh fox, I -suppose?” said Ned Adams.</p> - -<p>“To be sure,” responded his uncle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -“unless, indeed, he’s a dying one: for then, -as he can show no more sport, the sooner -he is killed the better. I’m one of the -last men living,” continued the huntsman, -emphatically, “to kill a fox by either lifting -hounds or any other means, except by a fair -find—a fair rattle from scent to view, and -pulling him down when he can’t run any -farther. But it isn’t every day that we can -have such cream of sport; and for any one to -say that it’s unjustifiable to lift or assist -hounds to run when they can’t hunt, or that -we should never hold a fox in covert, is to -acknowledge himself to be too tame a hand -for a killer of foxes.”</p> - -<p>“Nobody will accuse you of being that,” -rejoined his nephew, laughing, “if they -count the noses on the kennel-door at the end -of each season.”</p> - -<p>“I hope not,” returned the huntsman, -seriously. “I hope,” continued he, “that -when Will Sykes’s tally comes to be reckoned -up and squared, those noses will go in the -scales with his morals, and make ’em kick the -beam.”</p> - -<p>It has been said that Will Sykes possessed a -wide circle of admirers; and therefore to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -quite silent upon the matter respecting his -nephew, would be an act approaching -injustice; for, although the number was more -choice, and—to be strictly correct—comprised -no old women whatever, yet there is no -question but every pretty, young, and -unmarried one within the wide range of -Ned’s jaunts and wanderings might be fairly -registered among them. And no wonder; for -Ned was spruce and handsome, and had soft -looks, and yet softer words, for those with -whom he wished to be in favour. His jest and -laugh, too, were free and hearty; and where-ever -he went, “Welcome” awaited him.</p> - -<p>The short sketches of those in immediate -authority would still be incomplete if Old -Mark the Feeder was allowed to escape observation. -Whether he possessed a surname is a -subject known only to himself; for nobody -ever heard him spoken of, or to, but as “Old -Mark.” From infancy he had been employed -in the kennel, and owed his want of promotion -to a nervous inability to become a horseman. -No exertions on his own part, or those of -others, could render him anything like competent -to ride to hounds; and the result was -that, after a long and patient trial to obtain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -this necessary accomplishment for a whipper-in, -Mark was compelled to abandon the -design, and to fall back on his former -position. After this, no second attempt was -made; and so years and years rolled on, and -at length discovered the failure of a whipper-in -in Old Mark the feeder. As may be -supposed from his long experience, no one -knew more about us than he did; and the -moment his practised eye fell on a hound, he -could instantly tell a defective point, let it be -never so trifling. Proud and enthusiastic in -his calling, the courts and lodging-houses -were always clean, dry, and wholesome; and, -late or early, the old man never allowed the -most insignificant part of his duties to pass -unfinished. The feet of each were carefully -examined after returning home, and if foot-sore, -washed with bran, warm water, and -vinegar. A warm bath, too was also in -readiness, and plenty of clean straw to roll -in for the purpose of drying.</p> - -<p>Little can be said of Mark’s outward man; -for his back was crooked—perchance from -continually bending over the troughs and -copper—and his legs were lean and long, like -a daddy-long-legs; but one of the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -attributes of human nature sat reflected in -his mild, open, honest face; and that was -gentle kindness of heart. Oh! if the world -was more thickly populated with “Old -Marks,” how many hearts and hides would -cease to throb with anguish!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“In the barn the tenant-cock,</div> -<div class="verse">Close to partlet, perched on high,</div> -<div class="verse">Briskly crows (the shepherd’s clock),</div> -<div class="verse">Jocund, that the morning’s nigh.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>With a yawn, a stretch, and a shake, Trimbush -completed his toilet one misty morning, -just as a neighbouring 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.</p> - -<p>“Come,” said he, “it’s time to be awake -and stirring. How do ye fare?”</p> - -<p>“Hearty and hungry,” replied I, reluctantly -arousing myself from a dream of -enjoyment.</p> - -<p>“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Trimbush. -“You’ll have to wait, then,” continued he,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -“till sunset for a meal, unless you earn a -share for yourself.”</p> - -<p>“How so?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“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 anticipation 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -impropriety of the conduct. It’s quite -remarkable what effect a sound drubbing has -upon the memory.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not forget the first I received,” -observed I.</p> - -<p>“But you’ll never repeat that riot,” -significantly returned Trimbush. “It was a -christening not to slip through the memory -as if it had no knots tied in it.”</p> - -<p>“But then,” added I, “in coming across -the slot of deer, the scent was so sweet and -grateful that I couldn’t refrain from carrying -a head.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Trimbush, “like luxuries of -other descriptions, you paid for the enjoyment.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“What! swallow a hackle of the dog that -bit ye?” rejoined my friend.</p> - -<p>“It’s a common case, I’ve heard, with our -betters,” returned I.</p> - -<p>“Right again,” added my companion. -“Fire puts out fire.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” observed I, “that you’ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -felt, before now, an inclination to repeat an -error, convinced as ye may have been of its -impropriety.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” exclaimed Trimbush, drawing in -the breath between his teeth with a hissing -sound; “that I have. We are as clannish as -Scotsmen, 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.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t understand that,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“The cause lies in our blood and bone,” -rejoined my friend. “The impulse with us,” -continued he, “is paramount—to follow the -leader however wrong he may be in his -example.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And what was the finish of this attack -on Ned Adams?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“He was sent away, I suppose?” -remarked I.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” returned Trimbush, “to dance in -the air with a hempen cord round his -throttle.”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder, either,” added I, “for -such an offence.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Gracious powers!” ejaculated I, “what -do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Simply what I have said,” replied Trimbush, -licking his jaws with a peculiar relish, -and coolly adding, “I had a hand in the -supper.”</p> - -<p>“You?” I exclaimed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -but a cleanly picked skeleton.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not surprised at his death, under the -circumstances,” rejoined I; “but to eat -him!”</p> - -<p>“In my opinion,” added Trimbush, “that -was the most innocent part of the affair.”</p> - -<p>“And how,” said I, curious to learn -further particulars, “how did he taste?”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Who was the first to discover the -remains?”</p> - -<p>“Our feeder,” returned he.</p> - -<p>“And what did he say?”</p> - -<p>“Well!” added Trimbush, scratching an -ear with his off hind foot, as if 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 anything. -Whenever he read an astounding piece of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -news in the <i>County Chronicle</i>—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!’ However, thought -I, the ice of your surprise will be broken at -last.”</p> - -<p>“And was it?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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 continued 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.’”</p> - -<p>“And was that all he said?” I asked.</p> - -<p>“Every word,” returned my companion.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Unkennelling hounds,” remarked Trimbush, -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 <em>food</em>; but we, and all possessing -similar tendencies, love him and those -who show and give us <em>sport</em>. See the -difference with which we hail our feeder’s -appearance, and that of our huntsman. We -have affection for both; but there is no comparison -between either the kind or strength of -the feeling.”</p> - -<p>“We may like Will, too, all the better,” -I observed, “on account of his not flogging -us.”</p> - -<p>“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 dispositions -which he has to deal with, this is -impossible if he unites with his office the -duties of whip.”</p> - -<p>“I always feel inclined to head just the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -other way when I hear Ned Adams,” -observed I.</p> - -<p>“To be sure,” returned Trimbush. “The -thrashed hound fears the whip; and getting -away to his cry of ‘for’ard’ is as essential as -obeying the huntsman’s horn; but the feelings -for the two are far from being akin.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>Deny it who will—it is a heart-stirring, -gladsome, inspiring, <em>English</em> sight, to witness -a country gentleman and popular master in -the field. There are his friends and neighbours, -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 <em>country</em> gentleman unless he be a <em>sportsman</em>?” -Like a fish out of water, a bull in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -china shop, a bear in a tea-garden, or anything -else strangely awkward and much out -of his element.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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 whooping -crew of his fellows took up the cry, making -the welkin echo with their din.</p> - -<p>“Your servant, gentlemen,” said Will -Sykes, touching the peak of his cap; and -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.</p> - -<p>“What’s his pedigwee?” lisped a pale-faced -gentleman in spectacles, famous for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -riding hard along roads and over nothing but -hounds at check.</p> - -<p>“By Osbaldeston’s Furrier out of Crafty, -sir,” replied the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“By Fuwier out of Quafty!” repeated -the interrogator.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” rejoined Will; “and I’m much -mistaken if he doesn’t equal the celebrity of -his father.”</p> - -<p>“What do you call him?” further -inquired he of the ghostly countenance.</p> - -<p>“Ringwood, sir,” returned the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“Wingwood, eh?” added the questioner.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -hounds, he can never be—in the sense of the -word—a foxhunter.”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“A very different description of sportsman,” -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 -careful 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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“No,” rejoined Trimbush; “<em>that</em> he is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -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 -he, “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.”</p> - -<p>“You think, then, that men ride bolder -and better now?” I remarked.</p> - -<p>“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 <em>racing</em> 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,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -continued he, “to see a first-flight man, after -a fifteen minutes’ burst, blown to a stand-still; -while farmer Stockdale gives him the -go-by with his goose-rumped, short-legged, -long-necked nag, just in the wind.”</p> - -<p>“And does that often take place?” I -inquired.</p> - -<p>“Very frequently,” replied my companion. -“Head and hands will beat heels -all the world over.”</p> - -<p>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 horsewhipped 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 befriend the deserving and destitute than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -to check the imposter 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 -<em>suspiciously</em>, or the most trifling damage -done, but what, instantly and liberally, -amends were made. Sternly discountenancing -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 simple 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.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“HEAD AND HANDS WILL BEAT HEELS.”</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“For easy the lesson of the youthful train</div> -<div class="verse">When instinct prompts, and when example guides.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“I hope I’m to my time,” said the Squire, -pulling out his watch. “Yes,” continued he, -glancing at the dial, “to a minute.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Hark to Trimbush! Hark to Trimbush! -Have at him! Whoop!”</p> - -<p>We clustered to him, and, poking my nose -to the ground, I drew in a scent which made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -every hackle on my body stiffen with delight. -Up went my head, and forth I sent some -music that came from my very heart.</p> - -<p>“See that puppy,” said the Squire. -“How he loves it.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” was the reply, “he’s the most -promising I have ever seen.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“Tally-ho! tally-ho! Gone away,” -hallooed a voice from the farthest end of the -cover.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I told you so,” said Trimbush. “We -were too close to him, and he headed back to -make the distance greater at the burst.”</p> - -<p>I now sniffed the scent again, and, thinking -I was showing off, made as much noise as I -possibly could.</p> - -<p>“Keep your tongue still,” snapped Trimbush. -“Like most puppies, two-legged and -four, if they possess a good voice, they seldom -exhibit equal good sense in using it.”</p> - -<p>Twing, twing, twang, twa—a—ng, went -Will Sykes’s horn, as he jammed his horse -through bush and briar.</p> - -<p>“For’ard, for’ard,” shouted Tom Holt. -“Get to him, hounds, get to him.”</p> - -<p>“Come along,” said Trimbush. “Stick -to me.”</p> - -<p>“What a clean, fine, lengthy fellow he -is!” I heard some one remark. “His -point’s Picton Brake.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied another. “His brush must -be two feet: and what a snowy tag to it!”</p> - -<p>“Indeed!” observed Trimbush. “Then -we’ll give it such a dusting as to change its -colour pretty quickly.”</p> - -<p>A bunch of old hounds flew out of cover -with us, and, taking up the scent, away we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -rattled in a body, as close as a swarm of -bees.</p> - -<p>“They won’t over-ride us to-day,” -remarked I.</p> - -<p>“Not if the scent lasts as good as it is,” -replied Trimbush; “but that’s doubtful.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“I feel very choky,” said I, doing my best -to keep my place.</p> - -<p>“Hold on,” returned Trimbush. “He -must have crossed the Kulm stream, and there -we shall get a cooling plunge.”</p> - -<p>In a handful of seconds we neared the -water, and dashed into it with as much -delight as a flock of thirsty ducks.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Why so?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“Why so!” repeated Trimbush, rather -contemptuously. “Because he must know by -this time that he can’t outrun us. The scent’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“We must try to keep to our hunted one,” -said I, thinking it was exhibiting some -wisdom.</p> - -<p>“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 expense -of his bellows and toilet; but our noses can’t -be depended upon.”</p> - -<p>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 killing -pace, and although there was no bullying by -holding him in cover, and every opportunity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -given him to quit it, he still stuck to his -quarters.</p> - -<p>“You shall either run or die,” said Trimbush, -going through the cover like a bullet.</p> - -<p>A clear, musical “Tally-ho” now echoed -far and wide.</p> - -<p>“Gone away at last, eh?” observed my -friend, and, throwing up his head, he rushed -to the halloo.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I beg your pardon, sir; but my horse pulls -so, that——”</p> - -<p>“Then he is not fit to ride to hounds, sir,” -hastily rejoined the Squire.</p> - -<p>Being high on our mettle, we flashed -forward, 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.</p> - -<p>“Let them alone,” said the Squire, as Will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -Sykes indicated a disposition to make a hasty -cast down wind. “Let them alone,” repeated -he.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Let them alone,” quietly rejoined the -Squire. “Let them alone.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>We now tried up wind, and, sure enough, -hit it off again under a hedgerow.</p> - -<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed Trimbush. “He’s -a sinking one, and has turned to die.”</p> - -<p>We now rattled on full swing over a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -common, and on climbing a steep hill I saw a -magpie darting to the ground and then rising -high in the air to swoop again.</p> - -<p>“What’s that chattering pie doing?” -inquired I, directing Trimbush’s attention to -the bird.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Are those covers strong?” I asked, -seeing that we were making for a long line of -trees.</p> - -<p>“Little more than spinnies,” replied my -friend. “He can’t hang in them a minute.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“Put your nose down and work,” said he -passionately, “don’t talk to me.”</p> - -<p>“But I tell you——”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” interrupted Trimbush. -“What’s your head in the air for?”</p> - -<p>“Because the <em>fox</em> is in the air,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” asked he, seeing -that I was serious.</p> - -<p>I then told him that which I had seen, and -inquired what I should do.</p> - -<p>“Hold your tongue,” returned the artful -old rogue; “it shows a wise head, I’ve heard. -Leave the matter to me.”</p> - -<p>In order to monopolize the whole of the -credit to himself, Trimbush galloped to the -tree and dashed at it, in the attempt to climb -the knarled and knotted trunk.</p> - -<p>“What’s that hound about?” said the -Squire, looking greatly astonished.</p> - -<p>I now saw that Trimbush 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -tongue. The rest now clustered round the -leader, who, managing to stick and cling to -the ivy, got some dozen feet from the ground.</p> - -<p>“He’s gone to tree, sir,” said Will Sykes, -exultingly, as he threw himself from the -saddle.</p> - -<p>“That he has,” returned the Squire, -scarcely knowing which to be—more -astonished or pleased.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Who-whoop, who-whoop!” cried Tom -Holt.</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>I could have bitten his head off.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A CURIOUS FINISH.</p> -</div> - -<p>“My hounds deserve their fox, sir,” replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -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, unsportsman-like -act, would be now to run the risk of -robbing the hounds of that which they have -justly won and made their own.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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?”</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -one present.” And lifting his hat, string -high, he bowed and joined the side of his -huntsman.</p> - -<p>As we trotted along down a bye 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.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied his master with a slight -smile, “but it would not have been so long -if you had made that cast.”</p> - -<p>“If I had done <em>that</em>, sir,” replied the -huntsman, dropping his voice to a whisper, -“if I had done that, sir,” repeated he, “<em>we -should have lost our fox</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Let them alone, eh?” rejoined the -Squire, smiling more perceptibly.</p> - -<p>“Ay,” returned Will. “<em>Let them alone</em> -is a beautiful rule.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“See, the day begins to break,</div> -<div class="verse">And the light shoots like a streak</div> -<div class="verse">Of subtle fire; the wind blows cold</div> -<div class="verse">While the morning doth unfold:</div> -<div class="verse">Now the birds begin to rouse,</div> -<div class="verse">And the squirrel from the boughs</div> -<div class="verse">Leaps to get him nuts and fruit:</div> -<div class="verse">The early lark that erst was mute,</div> -<div class="verse">Carols to the rising day</div> -<div class="verse">Many a note and many a lay.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>I woke the following morning soon after -the first tinge of day had streaked the east, -and found myself terribly stiff and foot-sore. -My nose, too, was hot, and I felt very thirsty.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Trimbush, -waking, as I gave a whine of uneasiness.</p> - -<p>“I’m not well,” replied I, limping from -the bench.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s nothing to care about,” replied -he, yawning and stretching his limbs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -“Yesterday’s work has taken the steel and -wire out of ye, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“It does not appear to have touched you,” -rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“Me!” returned Trimbush, grinning so -that he showed every tooth in his head. “Do -you know, youngster, what you are?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered I proudly: “one who -does his duty, and gives as much satisfaction -as any of you <em>oldsters</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” responded he, “I must -admit that you allow yourself to be <em>taught</em>; -and both the duty and satisfaction which you -give at present are concentrated in that one -great and good quality.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“Hear, hear, hear,” said one of our companions -called Chancellor.</p> - -<p>“At him again!” exclaimed a spaded -bitch named Levity, and of the same age as -myself. “Take a suck at the lemon, and at -him again!”</p> - -<p>“You’re a sharp lot,” replied the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -hound, with a mingled look of contempt and -indifference, “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.”</p> - -<p>“But you must admit,” observed Chancellor, -“that without him we should not have -broken up our fox yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“Well!” returned Trimbush, “and -supposing I <em>do</em> admit it, what then?”</p> - -<p>“You should not have snatched the honour -from him,” replied Levity.</p> - -<p>“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 <i>who-whoop</i> 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 stargazing—we should,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -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!”</p> - -<p>“At any rate,” said Chancellor, “I heard -everybody praising what they called your -sagacity for discovering the fox in the tree.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>I felt that there was much truth in Trimbush’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.</p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” responded Trimbush.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -“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 -extraordinary 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 <em>up wind</em> 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 suspicion 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.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds reasonable,” remarked I.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” rejoined the old hound, -flourishing his stern. “I’m flattered with -your approval.”</p> - -<p>“I noticed that the scent continued to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“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 <em>increases</em>—although, -from the state of the weather and ground, we -may not be able to hunt him a yard, nevertheless—so -long as <em>exhaustion</em> does not take -place; and then as he sinks, so does the scent -<em>decrease</em>. 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.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I thought the scent came from the pads,” -remarked Levity.</p> - -<p>“And what made ye think that?” sneered -the old hound.</p> - -<p>“I don’t exactly know,” replied Levity; -“but certainly such was my opinion.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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 button-hole of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>Will Sykes entered soon afterwards, and, -seeing Mark’s arrangement for our comfort, -observed, “That’s right; those puppies want -taking care of.”</p> - -<p>“Ay,” replied Mark, smoothing down my -sleek ears and patting my sides, “I hear some -of ’em deserve it.”</p> - -<p>“That Ringwood,” rejoined the huntsman, -“is more like a third-seasoned hound -than a puppy at the beginning of his first.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -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, -occasionally, indispensable for obstinacy or -repeated offences; but there is nothing like a -cheer for improvement.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“You question?” snarled Trimbush. -“We shall certainly hear,” continued he, -“of mewling, puking babes teaching their -grandmothers to suck eggs, by and bye.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing so puzzling, nothing so -difficult to comprehend by the best and most -experienced of us,” said Trimbush, addressing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -me, “as the philosophy of scent; and yet, -forsooth, we are to be told by a babbling -puppy that——”</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” said I, interrupting his -irate speech, “don’t get in a passion about -a trifle.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -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 worst 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.”</p> - -<p>“That seems very singular,” said I.</p> - -<p>“I suppose it to be,” resumed my companion, -“that the scent clings to whatever -the animal rubs against or passes over during -the night; and having gone slowly, a greater -portion is emitted, which is preserved by the -frost, and the thaw having loosened the -particles, enables us to take them up.”</p> - -<p>“But how do you account for not being -able to run after he is unkennelled?” asked I.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -from the ground, occasioned by the warmth of -the day.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“To hear the lark begin his flight,</div> -<div class="verse">And singing startle the dull night,</div> -<div class="verse">From his watch-tower in the skies,</div> -<div class="verse">Till the dappled dawn doth rise;</div> -<div class="verse">Then to come in spite of sorrow,</div> -<div class="verse">And at my window bid good morrow,</div> -<div class="verse">Through the sweet-briar, or the vine,</div> -<div class="verse">Or the twisted eglantine.</div> -<div class="verse">…</div> -<div class="verse">Oft listening how the hounds and horn</div> -<div class="verse">Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“I 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.”</p> - -<p>“It’s not a pleasant one, certainly,” -replied the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“Pleasant?” repeated Tom. “In the -first place there’s a nasty, close, woodland -country with banks as high as churches. Then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -we have a pack of riff-raff counter skippers to -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 himself -generally finds fault all day long with -everybody and everything, when the fixture’s -at these four cross ways.”</p> - -<p>“We had better christen them the cross -purposes then,” returned Will Sykes.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It is not an unusual circumstance, -though,” said Will Sykes. “I have often -heard of similar instances unconnected with -hounds and hunting.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“We must look out for ourselves to-day,” -said Trimbush, “or there will be cases for -the hospital.”</p> - -<p>“They are a rough-looking set,” replied I,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you see they have?” replied my -companion.</p> - -<p>“But it doesn’t follow that they are any -use,” said I.</p> - -<p>“Well!” added Trimbush, “as far as -that goes I don’t think they are, although I -have heard of some men capable of smelling a -rat.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -stripped and mounted by their respective -owners. The contrast was strangely striking -between these and the “roughs,” and, -perhaps, caused my admiration to be greater -as I regarded each climbing into the pigskin.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Mind what I say,” remarked Trimbush, -“if you don’t keep your eyes and ears backward -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 -never do. It’s not our fault if they won’t -give us room.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take care of myself,” replied I.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>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 Trimbush reproved me, after poking -his nose where I had mine, saying, “Not so -noisy, not so noisy. Let’s have a distinction -between opening on a drag, and a good hearty -challenge when he’s found.”</p> - -<p>An old favourite line hunter, called -Rasselas, now threw his tongue.</p> - -<p>“That’s it,” said Trimbush, flying to the -cry, and taking it up, his roar thundered -through the brake.</p> - -<p>“Have at him!” hallooed Will Sykes. -“Have at him, hoik. Hoik, hoik together!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>About a minute afterwards, out came a -fine, lengthy dog-fox.</p> - -<p>“Tally-ho!” shrieked a muffin on a hired -knacker, and back the fox dived into the -brake again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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 -gentlemen present, if, for the rest of the day, -you’ll hold your tongue.”</p> - -<p>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, gentlemanlike tone and -manner which accompanied it.</p> - -<p>In consequence of being scared with this -halloo, the fox showed the greatest disinclination -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 spinning cobwebs -in our throats.</p> - -<p>“It’s choking work this,” said I.</p> - -<p>“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.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“There’s a leash a-foot, sir,” said the -huntsman, as the Squire now came to his -assistance.</p> - -<p>“Then get them as near to him as you -can,” replied the Squire, “and prevent them -getting on the other lines.”</p> - -<p>Ned Adams now viewed the fox in a broad -open ride, and hallooed, “Tally-ho!”</p> - -<p>“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 upon. -Keep your nose down; we are quite close -enough to carry him over the other lines of -scent without changing.”</p> - -<p>Immediately afterwards I heard the Squire -ask in a loud, angry voice, “Why did you -halloo?”</p> - -<p>“Because I viewed the hunted fox, sir,” -replied Ned, touching his cap deferentially.</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“At the bottom of the ride, sir.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“I thought the stragglers——”</p> - -<p>“Would rather fly to their tongues than to -your foolish halloo,” interrupted the Squire, -“or you ought to have thought so.”</p> - -<p>“You see,” added Trimbush, “I was -right. But all young ’uns think they know -everything, and the study and experience of -the oldsters go for nothing.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>We flew in a body to it, and, taking up the -scent, away we went.</p> - -<p>“Get on,” said Trimbush, “and we may, -perhaps, shake off the rabble and have a run. -It’s our only chance.”</p> - -<p>We carried a fine head across the first field<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“That ploughman’s headed him,” said -Trimbush, making a cast to the right, “and -he’s down wind as sure as I’m a foxhound.”</p> - -<p>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, notwithstanding -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.</p> - -<p>As the ground was good and we had a turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“It will be short and fast to-day,” said -Trimbush, exultingly.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” inquired several, -throwing up their heads.</p> - -<p>“Find out,” briefly replied Trimbush, -doing his best to accomplish the deed himself.</p> - -<p>In a few seconds the lane became full of -horses; for it is wonderful how courageous -men are in spinning along the roads. Some -came screaming up and cracking their whips, -and instead of sticking to our work we began -flying about in every direction.</p> - -<p>The Squire scolded, Will roared, Tom lost -his patience, and Ned Adams thundered out -“Hold har-r-r-d!” until black in the face.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“HOLD HAR-R-R-D!”</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>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 -sung out with pain and fright most lustily.</p> - -<p>“William,” said the Squire, sternly. -“Take the hounds home.”</p> - -<p>Will touched his cap, and the order was -obeyed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Oh! what avails the largest gifts of heaven</div> -<div class="verse">When drooping health and spirits go amiss?</div> -<div class="verse">How tasteless then whatever can be given;</div> -<div class="verse">Health is the vital principle of bliss.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Lick that stain off your flank,” said -Trimbush, pointing to the dirt on my side.</p> - -<p>“Why should I be so particular?” replied -I, obeying his instructions, “we don’t go -out to-day.”</p> - -<p>“No,” rejoined he; “but the Squire’s -coming to inspect us, and, I suppose, you’d -like to appear nice and comely in <em>his</em> eyes.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that?” I asked, -applying my tongue more diligently to the -completion of my toilet.</p> - -<p>“You’ll see in a few minutes,” added -Trimbush, “and if everything isn’t in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -gingerly order, I’ll bet a week’s meal and -broth, those will hear of it who are responsible -for their neglect.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“Can you time him to a second?” said -Mark smiling.</p> - -<p>“Ay,” replied Will, “it doesn’t require a -gauge to do that with his rules.”</p> - -<p>As a distant clock was striking, the bell -rung at the kennel door.</p> - -<p>“I said so,” remarked the huntsman, and -upon opening it he lifted his hat, and in -walked our worthy master.</p> - -<p>“Now for my frock,” said he, and one as -white as snow was brought by old Mark, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -was sensitively jealous of the privilege of -assisting the Squire to make his kennel toilet.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>In going to the lodging rooms, Will Sykes -said, “How would you like to have them -drawn, sir?”</p> - -<p>“Each hound singly,” replied the Squire, -“and the entry first.”</p> - -<p>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 appearance, -the Squire took a piece of biscuit from his -pocket and throwing it to me, said “Here -Ringwood, beauty,” and caressed me kindly.</p> - -<p>One or two of my young companions -evinced some temper and jealousy at this, and -growled deeply with up-reared hackles.</p> - -<p>“Come, come,” hallooed Tom, correctingly, -and a crack from his thong soon silenced the -grumblers.</p> - -<p>“His nose is hot,” observed the Squire,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -touching my nostrils, and standing a few feet -back followed up the remark by saying, -“What is that redness on his flank?”</p> - -<p>“A little heat, I think, sir,” replied the -huntsman, making a more careful examination -of me.</p> - -<p>“Then cool him,” was the reply, “and let -him stay at home to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Being passed forward to the others, -Vanquisher was summoned, and the Squire -noticing him limp, said, “What is the matter -with that hound? He’s lame.”</p> - -<p>“He has cut his near fore-foot a little,” -replied Will.</p> - -<p>“Let me see,” rejoined our master, and -upon lifting it up, said, “He has sprung a -claw, and <em>you</em> ought to have known it.”</p> - -<p>The huntsman’s face became a little flushed, -and he looked as if he felt the rebuke keenly.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -satisfied and content with the general -arrangements of the establishment.</p> - -<p>“I’m not going out to-morrow,” said I to -Trimbush, with my spirits down to zero.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” replied my friend; adding, -by way of consolation, that he would give me -a good account of the day’s sport.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” rejoined I, “but that’s a poor -makeshift for the disappointment of not -joining in it.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Probably,” said I, “and I wish the -fellow——”</p> - -<p>“Pish, pish!” interrupted my companion. -“You might as well wish him good as wish -him evil. We have no more power in the one -case than in the other, and it’s old womanish -to snap your teeth when you can’t bite.”</p> - -<p>“I heard a man say, when we were out -last,” said I, resolved to take advantage of -Trimbush’s present loquacious humour; for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“He must have known a great deal about -fox-hunting,” replied Trimbush, with a -sarcastic grin, “a very great deal indeed. I -should like to have his name and address.”</p> - -<p>“Of course he was wrong,” observed I, -with a slight touch of the interrogative in the -remark.</p> - -<p>“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 -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 <em>killing</em> line-hunter, and is a -guide and pilot for the pack. Often will you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“The Squire would give the applause to -whom it was due, though,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, yes,” rejoined my companion, -“and so would every true sportsman; but -where there is one who understands fox-hunting -as a <em>science</em>, there are five hundred who -know no more about it than un-hatched tom -tits. There are foxes and circumstances,” -continued he, “that will beat the best huntsman -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.</p> - -<p>“I am very glad you told me this,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” said I. “There’s no -pleasure to be had from their cheer.”</p> - -<p>“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 -gentleman 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.’”</p> - -<p>“And was he hung!” inquired I, feeling -a cold shiver run through my veins.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take great care not to acquire such -an one,” said I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It was necessary, I suppose, for the -discipline of the pack?” rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Cold grew the foggy morn: the day was brief:</div> -<div class="verse">Loose on the cherry hung the crimson leaf:</div> -<div class="verse">The dew dwelt ever on the herb, the woods</div> -<div class="verse">Roared with strong blasts, with mighty showers the floods.</div> -<div class="verse">All green was vanished, save the pine and yew,</div> -<div class="verse">That still displayed their melancholy hue,</div> -<div class="verse">Save the green holly with its berries red,</div> -<div class="verse">And the green moss that o’er the gravel spread.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It was the last day of November, and, -consequently, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>The day was very windy, and the light -clouds, looking like fleecy wool, scudded -before the gale, charged with rain; but -with the exception of a few drops which -occasionally fell, there was nothing as yet but -the threatening of the flooding storm.</p> - -<p>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 century’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 churchyards, -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 unchecked steed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said I, as Trimbush entered -“what sport?”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t think of that,” rejoined I, “or -I should not have been so envious of ye all -day.”</p> - -<p>“Might as well have been at home,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -returned the old hound, in a grumbling -humour.</p> - -<p>“You found?” said I.</p> - -<p>“Of course we did,” he replied. “We -never get a blank day. They are too staunch -and true preservers in <em>our</em> country for that to -take place.”</p> - -<p>My companion was now called to take his -turn in the warm bath, which Mark had -prepared, 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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“You are no bad judge,” replied I, -laughing.</p> - -<p>“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.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<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 -<em>drying</em> apartment. Nothing could be more -perfect than all the arrangements made for -our health and comfort, and yet, in themselves, -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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Except the foxes in it,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” rejoined he, “I have no enmity -towards them. It’s the combined joy of -finding, running, and beating them, and the -pleasure of——”</p> - -<p>“Eating them,” added I.</p> - -<p>“Well?” continued he, as if weighing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -sentence, “I suppose we may say that, too; -but I am rather doubtful about it.”</p> - -<p>“About what?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>“About the eating part of the business,” -replied 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 -ourselves for him to be considered proper -food for our stomachs. It’s approaching -particularly close to dog eating dog.”</p> - -<p>“But that you did once,” said I.</p> - -<p>“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 excited state. There is nothing with -life, from an elephant to a cockroach, but we -would have a shy at.”</p> - -<p>“Then you don’t believe that we really love -the varmint as a dainty morsel?” rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“No,” returned he, “I think not. Fancy, -for instance, your killing and eating the poor -little vixen chained just outside the kennel -door.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ugh!” said I, disgusted at the thought.</p> - -<p>“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 <em>natural</em> food, we couldn’t -help doing so, and the first opportunity that -presented itself she would be digested -victuals.”</p> - -<p>“But, perhaps, the fear of getting a good -drubbing may operate as a check to the -inclinations of others,” observed I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“There’s great force in your argument,” I -remarked.</p> - -<p>“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 -wild or not—let it be on the tree or in a cage—she -will be equally disposed to make it her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -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 <em>our</em> -tastes.”</p> - -<p>“What do you think would be the effect if -we were not allowed to break the fox up?” -inquired I.</p> - -<p>“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 <em>kill</em>; but hounds never flag from want -of <em>blood</em>. All highly bred dogs like <em>us</em> 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 -disinterested than themselves.”</p> - -<p>“You are very severe on our masters,” -rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“Not more so than they deserve,” returned -Trimbush. “Not one in a thousand of ’em -thinks for himself; but just repeats that -which he’s told, and so they go on babble, -babble, babble, with about as much meaning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -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 addlepated brains in another. -I don’t mean to compare pointers, or setters, -or greyhounds with <em>us</em>, 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 <i>who-whooping</i> over us; but, to say -that we absolutely require <em>blood</em>, is all -nonsense.”</p> - -<p>“But the more we kill, the greater kill-devils -we become,” said I.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -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 <em>climax</em> to sport; not from -the covetous, greedy, piggish, grovelling -want of the material to lick our chops.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“For with a sigh, a blast of all his breath,</div> -<div class="verse">That viewless thing, called life, did from him steal.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We were trotting leisurely to cover, one -morning, when I remarked that Trimbush -was more serious and silent than usual.</p> - -<p>“What are you thinking about?” said I.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got our work cut out to-day,” -replied 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.”</p> - -<p>“Is that our first draw?” said I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“But how?” I asked. “He must be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -something extraordinary to beat ye four whole -seasons.”</p> - -<p>“He is,” added Trimbush: “but he must -be more than <em>that</em>, even to live till sun-down -to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me all about him,” said I, “and -what your plans are; for I see your mind is -made up for mischief.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Is he a big one?” I inquired.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“View or no view,” rejoined I, “we’ll -stick to him.”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got some manœuvre or artful -dodge in store for him, I know,” I remarked.</p> - -<p>“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 whenever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“Being so crafty,” returned I, “I’m -surprised that they don’t depend more upon -that which would save them, <em>their speed</em>.”</p> - -<p>“The reason is this,” added Trimbush. -“Although 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, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -feels himself in no condition for racing, -and tries all his cunning to elude us in -preference 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.”</p> - -<p>At this moment Will Sykes glanced round, -and hallooed, “Give them more room, Ned, -and let them empty themselves.”</p> - -<p>“Ay, ay,” replied Ned, checking his horse -to leave greater space between himself and the -huntsman.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Then you intend,” said I, resuming the -subject, “then you intend——”</p> - -<p>“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, -“and if he beats us to-day, with the ground -in the order that it is, and this mild velvety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -wind, hang me if I shall have any hope of -breaking up the devil’s own.”</p> - -<p>“Have you made known your plan to any -of the others?” I inquired.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Well!” said he, addressing Will -Sykes, “is the devil’s own to beat us again -to-day?”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“And what are they?” asked the Squire.</p> - -<p>“That he bears a charmed life,” replied -Will, “and no hounds ever bred could run -into him.”</p> - -<p>Our master laughed heartily at this, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -said, “We must try to break the charm.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” said Trimbush, going -like a bullet through the furze, “although I -should not wonder but he’s gone.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -cover, and just when about the thick of it, a -whimper from Chancellor announced that the -devil’s own was afoot.</p> - -<p>“Tally-ho!” now rung from Tom Holt’s -throat.</p> - -<p>“Shoot to the right,” said Trimbush, leading, -and in a few strides we were outside the -thick, almost impenetrable gorse.</p> - -<p>“Tally-ho, tally-ho!” again hallooed Tom.</p> - -<p>“Come along,” said the old hound, “we -are close to his brush this time at any rate.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -bristling for a kill can show.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -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 stand-still -before getting their second wind.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“He can’t last the distance,” replied -Rubicon. “We shall run him from scent to -view in less than another mile.”</p> - -<p>“So I think,” rejoined Wildboy. “His -red rag’s hanging from his jaws worse than -mine, I know, and that feels like dried -chalk.”</p> - -<p>“We shall come to soil presently,” -returned Loyalty. “There’s the Loam stream -not far a-head.”</p> - -<p>“Egad!” added Dashwood, “but I wish -it was in my next stride. I’m blistered with -thirst.”</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -it as you go, and make good inch by inch, -rather than be in doubt. We shall save time -by the trouble.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“This is his line,” said Trimbush, -evidently puzzled, “and yet——”</p> - -<p>“Let us try up wind,” interrupted Dashwood, -“he may have headed, as he’s a sinking -one.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“But he may have headed back,” observed -Wildboy.</p> - -<p>“He <em>may</em>,” quietly added Trimbush; -“but make your work good as ye go. I -think,” continued he, “that we have cast to -the right, which was the probable line, far -enough. Now let us try the left.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -between their knees, and their tails shook as -if they must drop off.</p> - -<p>“How beautifully they work,” I heard the -Squire say as he threw himself from the -saddle. “Let them alone; pray let them -alone.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure he’s headed back,” said Wildboy, -confidently.</p> - -<p>“We’ll try,” replied Trimbush; “but I -doubt it.”</p> - -<p>“It’s now quite clear,” said the Squire, -as we failed to touch the scent in our track, -“that the hounds can make nothing of it. -They have had a fair trial; now let me see -what you can do, William.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“A trick worthy of the devil’s own,” said -Trimbush, laughing, “but I proved a match -for him this time.”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“Because,” replied my companion, “he -reached the water some seconds before ourselves, -and swimming so far <em>down the stream</em>, -he gained the little bank of mud, where he -squatted, with all the scent <em>washed away from -him</em>. 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.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t think how you came to suspect -that he had laid up there,” remarked I.</p> - -<p>“I never knew a fox to do so before,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -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 -anticipation of a deep one proved correct.”</p> - -<p>We now came to a more enclosed country, -and the fences greatly added to our momentarily -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.</p> - -<p>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 <em>little -longer</em>.” But this “little longer” appeared -to be a very indefinite period.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<p>“He dies, by the Lord!” cried Trimbush, -in perfect ecstacy, 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.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” inquired I, reeling -with weakness, and certain that my remaining -strength was all but spent.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>Seeing that Trimbush was serious, this -sage opinion lent fresh aid to our flagging -energies, and the skeleton of his force, comprising -only Dashwood, Wildboy, and myself, -answered his cheer by redoubling our efforts to -run into the devil’s own.</p> - -<p>The wood which Trimbush spoke of now -appeared at the bottom of a deep valley, and -into the underbush 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -cool refreshing wind at my nostrils, I fell -to the ground, faint and breathless; but -every effort proved fruitless; and crouching -behind the trunk of a large tree, I was -obliged to remain stationary sorely against -my will.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“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 -carcase of the devil’s own, we lay stretched -upon the ground, panting and beaten to a -crawl.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“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?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“What a considerate Christian!” -exclaimed Loyalty. “Old Mark could -scarcely be more thoughtful.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Ho, ho!” ejaculated Trimbush. -“That’s the secret of your attention, is it?”</p> - -<p>“Who-whoop!” hallooed the man. -“Who-whoop!” and throwing the dismembered -carcase to us, we tore it into pieces and -demolished, with more than ordinary relish, -the devil’s own.</p> - -<p>“Now, what am I to do with ye?” -observed the rustic, scratching the back part -of his head.</p> - -<p>“Take us to the nearest best quarters,” -said Trimbush; “give us a good supper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -plenty of straw, and lead us home in the -morning.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a long distance,” soliloquized the -man; “but I shall get well paid for my -trouble, I know. It can’t be done to-night, -howsomever; and so I’ll get farmer Oatfield -to give grub and lodgings, and journey home -with ye to-morrow myself.”</p> - -<p>“A capital move,” said Trimbush, “and -a sentiment after my own heart. Come -along.”</p> - -<p>Most willingly we followed our conductor -from the cover, and after proceeding about a -mile, we came to one of those nests of -comforts, 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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The gorse is yellow on the heath,</div> -<div class="verse">The banks with speed-well flowers are gay,</div> -<div class="verse">The oaks are budding, and beneath</div> -<div class="verse">The hawthorn soon will bear the wreath,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">The silver wreath of May.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“I hate to see those violets a-peeping on -the banks,” said old Mark to the huntsman, -one morning, “and always did.”</p> - -<p>“Why so?” asked Will.</p> - -<p>“Because they are a sure sign that hunting -is drawing to a close,” replied our feeder.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” rejoined Will Sykes. “True -enough. When the speed-well flowers begin -to show,” continued he, “we may be certain -that the season’s almost at an end.”</p> - -<p>“Shall we kill a May fox?” inquired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -Mark, for he always coupled the <em>we</em> in all -relating to us and our doings.</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Will. “The season’s too -forward, and the Squire said yesterday he -would only hunt twice more.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“The devil’s own is not there,” replied I. -“How is that?”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad of that,” returned I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“What was the time, do you suppose?” -inquired I.</p> - -<p>“Not a minute less than five hours,” -responded my companion.</p> - -<p>“How proud the Squire and all of them -were upon our return!” said I.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” rejoined the old hound. “I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -thought we should be killed by that which -seldom forms the ground of coroners’ inquests—excessive -kindness.”</p> - -<p>“Well!” exclaimed I, “since we have -but two days remaining, we must endeavour -to wind up the season with a good finish.”</p> - -<p>“To be sure,” returned Trimbush; “a -brace more of noses must be added to the -account, at least.”</p> - -<p>“How tired I shall be of kennel life -throughout the long, hot summer,” said I, -with a whine at the thought.</p> - -<p>“It is rather monotonous, I must say,” -replied my companion.</p> - -<p>“And then to be continually shut up,” -rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“That’s very kind and considerate,” said -I, “and contributes greatly to our happiness.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And health, you might have added,” continued -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 kennelled brethren, and the -only cause is from the freedom they enjoy.”</p> - -<p>“What a pity it is,” said I, “that we -can’t make our rulers comprehend us as well -as we understand them.”</p> - -<p>“Their heads are so thick,” replied Trimbush, -contemptuously. “A great many are -solid, like stones, all the way through, I’m -sure.”</p> - -<p>“Some act as if they were,” rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a good thing,” I remarked, “that -our master is not one of the stone-heads.”</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -makes good hounds, so does a good master -make good servants.”</p> - -<p>“There’s a wonderful deal in the management,” -I observed.</p> - -<p>“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 -establishment, you may depend upon it that -he’s very much out of his place.”</p> - -<p>“Your information concerning our liberty -during the summer months,” said I, “has -reconciled me somewhat to the mortification -of closing the season.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“The feather often shows which way the -wind blows,” remarked I.</p> - -<p>“As well as the national banner of England -floating in the breeze,” returned the old -hound.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“In the field?” asked Trimbush.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“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 prejudicial as an imperfect, hasty cast.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Ay,” rejoined Trimbush, “if abided by, -there would be but little cause for grumbling -about want of sport. We can generally do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -far better without assistance than 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 neglecting -their own; because, if not idle themselves, -they are the positive cause of neglect and -idleness in their fellows.”</p> - -<p>“Upon my honour,” returned I, “you -talk like a philosopher.”</p> - -<p>“Then a philosopher speaks but the simple -truth,” added my companion, “in very -simple language.”</p> - -<p>“You never hear,” said I, diving again -more particularly into our subject, “of men -admitting that they had anything to do with -losing a fox, although they invariably claim a -large share in the honour of killing him.”</p> - -<p>“You have noticed that, have you?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -responded the old hound, laughing. “No; it -is always <em>they</em> lost him, but <em>we</em> killed him. -Ha, ha, ha!”</p> - -<p>“It ought to be just reversed,” rejoined I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I begin to have a great contempt for the -ignorance of human beings,” observed I.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“When early primroses appear,</div> -<div class="verse">And vales are decked with daffodils,</div> -<div class="verse">I hail the new reviving year,</div> -<div class="verse">And soothing hope my bosom fills.</div> -<div class="verse">The lambkin bleating on the plain,</div> -<div class="verse">The swallow seen with gladdened eye,</div> -<div class="verse">The welcome cuckoo’s merry strain,</div> -<div class="verse">Proclaim the joyful summer nigh.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 dew-drops, flashing in the -light of the young spring morn.</p> - -<p>Punctuality being the standing order with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 much unsportsman-like -conduct on their part.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“Gently, Boaster,” hallooed Will, giving -an admonitory crack of the whip. “Gently, -Boaster.”</p> - -<p>Upon pushing my nose among the group, I -inhaled a slight scent of <em>the</em> animal; but it -was very faint.</p> - -<p>“It’s a stale drag,” said Trimbush, “and -he may be twenty miles away by this time. -Who opened on it?” asked he.</p> - -<p>“Boaster,” replied I, fearing that he -might think me guilty of the puppy-like -deed.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“But it was the right scent,” expostulated -Boaster; “and how could I tell if it was stale -or not?”</p> - -<p>“Then your nose is not worth a damn,” -returned Trimbush, passionately. “At any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -rate,” continued he, “you might have a little -decent modesty, and not take precedency of -<em>us</em>.”</p> - -<p>Trimbush placed a very strong emphasis -upon the “us,” and Boaster, ashamed and -abashed, drooped his stern, and, for the -remainder of the day, did not again attempt -playing first fiddle.</p> - -<p>We were now taken about two miles, and -thrown into a large rambling cover, composed -of patches of gorse, bramble, and nutwood.</p> - -<p>“I saw some fresh billets just now, sir,” -said Ned Adams to the Squire.</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“Just under that ash, and on the edge of -the gap, sir,” replied the second whip.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” rejoined his master.</p> - -<p>I was close to Dashwood and Trimbush, -when both stopped suddenly, and simultaneously -throwing up their heads, both gave -long bell-like notes, which rung and echoed -far and near.</p> - -<p>“Hark to Trimbush!” cried Will Sykes; -“hark to Dashwood, hark, hark!” and then, -as I and others picked up the grateful scent, -and threw our tongues cheerfully, he hallooed, -“Hark together, hark!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now we closed; now we went full swing. -Up went Tom Holt’s cap.</p> - -<p>“It’s a vixen, sir,” I heard him say.</p> - -<p>“Stop them, then,” replied our master, -“and let her go. We can’t spare a bitch fox -now.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>“You would be the last to carry out that -principle, I’m sure,” observed Rubicon.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that,” rejoined the old -hound. “It’s very tantalizing and dispiriting -to be stopped the moment a fox, which we -have taken the trouble and pains to find,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -breaks away. We meet with enough -disappointments which can’t be avoided, -throughout a season, without having such as -these thrust upon us.”</p> - -<p>“But we are continually so stopped in cub-hunting,” -returned Rubicon.</p> - -<p>“That’s quite a different matter,” said -Trimbush. “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——”</p> - -<p>At this moment I winded the glorious scent -again, and, throwing my tongue, bang a great -dark-coloured fox went across a ride. Trimbush -cut short his harangue, and, forgetting -the cause of his anger, flew to my side, and -away we rattled.</p> - -<p>“Have at him!” hallooed Will. “Have -at him, darlings! Yoiks, have at him!”</p> - -<p>Up went Tom Holt’s cap again.</p> - -<p>“All right, sir,” I heard him say. “As -fine a dog-fox as ever was seen.”</p> - -<p>Through the furze we dashed, and out -burst more than two-thirds of us close to his -brush.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<p><i>Twang, twang, twang, twang</i>, went Will’s -horn.</p> - -<p>“For’ard, for’ard!” hallooed Ned Adams: -“get to him hounds, get to him! For’ard! -for’<em>ard</em>!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“I saw it, sir,” I heard the 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——”</p> - -<p>A <em>twang, twang</em>, 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 speed.</p> - -<p>“I thought,” observed Trimbush, “that -the old woman 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -cause that the fox has been headed; but -we should not speculate upon chances or -accidents.”</p> - -<p>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 picking 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.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” said the old hound, both vexed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -and puzzled, “if he has been headed back?”</p> - -<p>Rubicon, who must have had a remarkably -strong stomach, now jumped upon the steaming, -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.</p> - -<p>“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 -behind to see,” he continued; “but of course -they must have viewed him into the manure.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt, sir,” replied Will, “or he -would most likely have beaten us.”</p> - -<p>“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 -<em>could</em> 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.”</p> - -<p>“Or merit to his craft and cunning, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Be candid,” said he, in a half whisper. -“How was it that you made the fox out in -that beastly manure?”</p> - -<p>“I winded him,” rejoined Rubicon, with -a sly grin.</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” replied the old hound. “It -was impossible.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” interrupted Rubicon, “I -admit it. The fact is I jumped on the heap -for a very different purpose, and as I did so, -I felt something move under my feet. A -thought struck me——”</p> - -<p>“As it did me,” interrupted Trimbush, -“before commencing your explanation. We -owe the kill to chance.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Now the hill, the hedge, are green,</div> -<div class="verse">Now the warbler’s throat’s in tune,</div> -<div class="verse">Blithsome is the verdant scene,</div> -<div class="verse">Brightened by the beams of noon.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It was a sultry summer’s day, and Trimbush -and myself were luxuriating under the -wide-spreading and deep shade of a walnut -tree growing near the kennel. Five or six of -our companions, on the free list, like ourselves, -were lounging about in the coolest -spots, and their only occasional signs of life, -as they laid upon the ground, consisted in -brushing the buzzing flies from their nostrils -and hides, and, now and then, making a snap -at their enemies. Wearied, at length, with -my own laziness, I made an effort to draw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -Trimbush into conversation, by asking him -the cause of kennel lameness.</p> - -<p>The old hound rolled on his side, and giving -a wide yawn, stretched out his legs as far as -possible, with his stern stiffly turned over his -back.</p> - -<p>“That’s comfortable,” said he, “very. -And so you wish to learn the cause of one of -the greatest afflictions that can visit us?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” rejoined I, “it is my wish to -know everything concerning our interests. -For if mankind be the proper study for man, -so must hounds and hunting be the proper -study for me.”</p> - -<p>“A sensible remark,” returned my companion; -“and as you are always ready to -listen, there can be no doubt but that you’ll -attain proficiency.”</p> - -<p>“I’m greatly obliged for your encouragement,” -added I.</p> - -<p>“I remember two seasons ago,” said Trimbush, -“hearing Tom Holt read aloud from -<i>The Sporting Magazine</i> a remarkably sensible -article on the subject you wish to be informed -about, and it made so deep an impression that -I can now repeat it nearly word for word.”</p> - -<p>“I’m all attention,” I replied.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>My friend cleared his throat, and then -commenced.</p> - -<p>“Peculiar conditions of the atmosphere -have generally the effect of some disorders, -which attack men and animals to so great an -extent as to be denominated the prevailing -diseases of the time—such as cholera, typhus -fever, influenza, and many others. These -results are not always contemporary with the -weather, which in reality produces them. -Indeed, they most frequently make their -appearance some little time after a change of -temperature has taken place, by which certain -influences have been established, which become -the sources of disorder in the functions of -animal economy. Such disorders as those -which are peculiar to any particular districts -cannot fail to receive an impulse from such a -season as the one we have lately experienced. -Kennel lameness ranks among the number as -likely to be one over which these powers may -be expected to have a very considerable -control. Much has been said and much has -been written on the subject, and many -possibilities have been suggested, and -remedies proposed, which have so little reason -for their basis, that it appears extraordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -how they could ever have entered the brain of -reasonable and thinking men: but before -going into a detail, I will introduce a few -remarks on endemic diseases, for the purpose -of more clearly establishing the point, ‘that -certain situations produce the complaint, and -will for ever be the cause of its continuance so -long as those situations are preserved’; and -also that certain modes of treatment are the -causes of its prevailing in some instances -with a greater degree of inveteracy. Indeed -I have no hesitation in declaring, that bad -management will, even on healthy sites, -produce a modified degree of rheumatism, -which assumes the name of kennel lameness.</p> - -<p>“There are certain diseases which afflict -the human body, and which are found to rage -in particular localities, termed endemic. -They are attributable to some peculiarities of -the soil, the air, the food, and in some -instances of the habits of the inhabitants. -Poverty, want of cleanliness, and, the consequence -of poverty, bad and insufficient food -and raiment, may be enumerated among the -most conspicuous causes. A removal of them -will naturally be followed by the disappearance -of the endemic. So with hounds: if a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -slight degree of rheumatism exists, produced -by irregular treatment, alter the treatment, -and if those already affected do not recover, -the list of invalids will not be augmented by -its appearance in fresh subjects. Some may -oppose me on this point, by observing, if bad -management produces the complaint in a -slight degree, may it not do so in a greater? -To this I answer distinctly, No; inasmuch as -in some kennels the disorder has never been -known to emanate, but that unsound hounds -brought from other kennels have recovered: -besides which, there are many kennels in -which the disorder rages where the hounds are -treated precisely upon the same system as in -establishments which are perfectly free from -it.</p> - -<p>“It is well known to what an extent -various diseases, such as cutaneous complaints -and scurvy, have identified themselves -with peculiar situations, more especially after -certain seasons. Medical practitioners are of -opinion, that, for the thoroughly comprehending -the nature and the cure of endemical -diseases, an accurate study of topography is -essentially necessary. The inhabitants of -countries or places where diseases prevail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -endemically are very often exempted from -other serious indispositions; and the natives -of a country or district frequently become -inured by habit to influences which at once -manifest their power over newly-imported -strangers, especially in tropical regions. In -countries inhabited by different races of men, -the same circumstances do not always produce -the same effects upon different varieties. The -water of the Seine produces disorder in the -Londoner, to which the Parisian, who is -accustomed to it, is exempt. The treatment -also of similar diseases often requires to be -very different in consequence of the locality -where it appears, and also the constitution -and habits of the patient.</p> - -<p>“The miasmata, or particles which -emanate from the surface of the earth, -produce marked effects upon the human -constitution in those places where they -prevail. The districts where they are most -conspicuous are the marshes, fens and -swamps in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and -Essex: intermitting fevers and agues are -the consequence. Although marshy districts -are pre-eminently capable of engendering -miasmata, they are not exclusively so: the result<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -of numerous observations proves that the -circumstances essential to this phenomenon -are the presence of water, or moisture, and the -influence of solar heat: when the quantity of -water is great at any particular time, the -effects do not manifest themselves until it -subsides. Many circumstances are supposed -to influence the development of the effects of -these exhalations. It is also asserted, that it -has sometimes been carried to considerable -distances, to situations naturally healthy, by -currents of air. This is a consideration of -vast importance in forming an opinion upon -the fact of kennel lameness being indigenous -to certain situations, and shows most clearly -how little benefit can be anticipated in those -cases where the malady is severe, by the -interposition of impervious concretes, asphaltum, -and such like preparations.</p> - -<p>“It has been asserted that attacks of -paralysis have been mistaken for kennel lameness. -How such mistakes can have originated -with any persons conversant with the -characteristics of the latter malady, it is -difficult to conceive, unless that term is -intended to comprehend all disorders in which -lameness is apparent. If so, ere long, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -shall have hounds, when lamed by thorns or -bruises, included in the list. Kennel lameness, -properly so termed, is intended to -convey the idea of a malady whose distinctive -symptoms are so identically similar to -rheumatism, that there appears scarcely any -visible reason why it should be distinguished -by any other term; but as it has now acquired -a standing in the huntsman’s nomenclature, -it would be presumption to attempt to displace -it: nevertheless, the term rheumatism would -be quite as applicable and more universally -comprehended. Before a physiologist pronounces -to what class a disorder belongs, and -before a physician attempts to prescribe a -remedy for its cure, it is requisite to -investigate the symptoms which exist. Now -the symptoms of paralysis and rheumatism -are so distinctly at variance, that it is utterly -impossible to fall under a mistake. Paralysis -is a nervous affection, in which the nerves, -acting on the muscles, interrupt their motion, -relaxing their tone and fibre, and very -frequently distorting some particular limb. -Rheumatism is a rigid or contracted state of -the muscles, attended with a slight inflammatory -condition of the tissue which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -covers the muscles, having the effect, -when the animal has been some time at -rest, of creating a certain degree of -adhesion. Thus a hound badly affected -with kennel lameness, on first being taken -out, is so stiff and sore as scarcely to be able -to move—a state in which I have seen so -many, that the remembrance is accompanied -with feelings of commiseration and pity that -would prompt me to any trouble or exertion -that would produce the effect of subduing the -complaint. When hounds thus disordered -have been in motion a short time, so as to -increase the circulation of the blood, the -extreme rigidity or stiffness goes off to a -certain extent, dependent upon the violence of -the attack. But paralytic affections would -not be attended with any such results: -exercise would rather tend to increase than -to improve the capabilities of action.</p> - -<p>“I have very little doubt but the severe -work which staghounds occasionally undergo, -and the numerous changes of temperature -which they have to contend against, are -causes for the aggravation of this malady. A -foxhound generally has some preparatory -exercise, besides the exertion of going to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -covert, which latter is equivalent to the staghound -going to the place of meeting. The -former has to draw for and to find his fox, in -which effort his powers are more gradually -brought into play, and the circulation of his -blood is more rationally increased; but the -staghound is laid on to the scent of his game -without any preparatory excitement of the -system, when he immediately goes to work, -straining every nerve in his ardour for the -chase, and very frequently maintains those -efforts during the period of several hours; -and frequently, when in an evident state -of exhaustion, a time when immersion is -dangerous, he plunges into rivers, canals, or -lakes—places which stags have such inordinate -propensities for when severely pressed.</p> - -<p>“The high and stimulating food, which is -no doubt found necessary to maintain condition -during a long chase, is another cause -for symptoms of kennel lameness making -their appearance with staghounds. The -circumstance of the canine species not throwing -off perspirable matter through the pores -of the skin, appears to be a very powerful -reason why they are so susceptible of -rheumatic affections, and more especially that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -it should assume a chronic character when -once introduced into the system. It is asserted -that the dog perspires through the tongue; -admitting that as a fact, it is to a very -trifling extent, and not equivalent to the vast -effusion of violent perspiration which must -ensue from the laborious exertions of the -chase, providing a hound generates an -equivalent proportion according to his bulk -that either a man or a horse does under similar -efforts; besides which, making its escape from -one part only, the general relief to the animal -cannot be equivalent to that which is -experienced by those animals who have outlets -in the immediate proximity of almost every -muscle. It is very evident that a great portion -of the extraneous fluid, which in some animals -flies off in perspiration, is by the hound voided -in urine. The vast quantity which he passes -is a proof of this, and it is a reason why -medicines acting upon the urinary functions -should be resorted to, in cases of kennel lameness, -as a palliative.</p> - -<p>“Seeing the announcement some months -ago that ‘our right trusty and well-beloved -friend’ and faithful correspondent, <span class="smcap">Ringwood</span>, -had forwarded his opinions and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -suggestions on the subject of Kennel Lameness, -and appreciating most highly his -experience on sporting subjects, I was buoyed -up with the hope that his discoveries would -have thrown some new light on the case; -but was much disappointed at reading his -recommendations to try the effect of fires in -the lodging-rooms. Knowing them to have -been tried by Sir B. Graham, Mr. Boycott, -also in the kennels occupied by Mr. Nicol, I -believe also by Lord Kintore, with prejudicial -consequences, it only remains to intimate that -the practice is incompatible. Moreover, the -diuretic tendency which it produces, in -encouraging hounds to perform their evacuations -in the lodging-rooms, instead of in the -yards, is a reason why the adoption of fires, -however secured, in kennels, cannot be carried -out consistently with the usual discipline and -necessary observance of cleanliness. One of -the most positive cases in proof, that on some -occasions kennel lameness proceeds entirely -from the unhealthy situation of their habitation, -is that of Mr. Foljambe. With the -utmost attention to kennel management, a -long series of years passed with nothing but -disappointment and vexation to crown the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -most liberal and judicious experiments. -Nothing that human skill could suggest or -accomplish was left untried, until at length -it was determined to remove the hounds to a -kennel at another part of the country, where, -under precisely the same management, they -are sound and well.</p> - -<p>“In conversation with a friend a short time -since, a M. F. H., he made the remark, that -if I could make the discovery of a cure for -this disorder, I should be entitled to honors -and distinctions too superfluous to mention. -My reply was simply this: ‘A remedy has -been discovered, not by myself, for I desire no -merit which I am not entitled to, but it is -clearly proved that removal to a healthy site -will effect all that is desired.’ The removal -must not, however, be undertaken without -mature consideration, in order to ascertain -if the proposed new situation is perfectly free -from the causes which produce the disorder. -Clay soils may be denominated the most -eligible; light sandy soils and light soils on -chalk, are the worst. Any attempt to cure -the complaint on a situation which so -evidently engenders it, is like trying to heal a -wound while the substance which created it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -remains within. Removal on the first -discovery that the kennel is so located as to -be injurious will most assuredly be found the -most satisfactory, and, in the end, the most -economical determination.”</p> - -<p>I managed to keep myself from a most -seductive doze during my companion’s somewhat -prosy delivery; but scarcely had he -finished, than I was in the land of dreams, -and toying with</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The children of an idle brain,</div> -<div class="verse">Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“We still have slept together,</div> -<div class="verse">Rose at an instant, learn’d, play’d, eat together;</div> -<div class="verse">And wheresoe’er we went, like Juno’s swans,</div> -<div class="verse">Still we went coupled, and inseparable.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 sipping. -Others drank deeply, but seldom; and all, -more or less, evinced the feverish suffering -they endured.</p> - -<p>I was lying in a shady corner of the court -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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> - -<p>Rising from the ground, I went towards -him and said, “What’s the matter?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” replied he, “but I feel -very strange. I’m dreadfully thirsty, and yet -cannot go near the water.”</p> - -<p>I now perceived that his eyes looked dull -and leaden, and his body shook, as if every -nerve and sinew were shattered and unstrung.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you have eaten something that -has disagreed with you,” returned I.</p> - -<p>“No,” added he; “I picked up a bone in -our walk this morning, but that couldn’t -injure me.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that wound on your shoulder,” -I asked.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>This intelligence struck me with the most -inexpressible uneasiness, and I went to Trimbush, -who was asleep, and waking him, -repeated all I had seen and heard.</p> - -<p>In a moment the old hound jumped from his -posture of indolence, and approaching Gameboy, -regarded him minutely.</p> - -<p>“Are you unwell?” said he.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Gameboy; “I never felt so -queer before.”</p> - -<p>“Are you thirsty?”</p> - -<p>“Awfully so,” he rejoined, “and yet -cannot drink.”</p> - -<p>“But why?” asked Trimbush.</p> - -<p>Gameboy gave an involuntary shudder, and -said, “The sight, and even the noise of water, -is more painful than I can describe.”</p> - -<p>“Let me see you make an effort to go near -it,” responded my companion. “Perseverance -may overcome this, seemingly, nervous affection.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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—<em>he’s -mad</em>.”</p> - -<p>As if each had received a shock of electricity, -the whole stood still and mute,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -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 -jaw, 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.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>The noise in the kennel now became furious. -All were stricken with fright, and the howling -and cries were most appalling.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Thanks be to the saints!” exclaimed -Trimbush, “assistance is at hand.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p>Immediately afterwards both entered the -court, and the huntsman glancing round, said -reproachfully, “What’s all this about, eh?”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Great heaven!” ejaculated he, holding -up both his hands. “Great heaven, Will, -there’s madness among ’em!”</p> - -<p>“What!” said the huntsman, his question -sounding like a sharp expression of pain.</p> - -<p>“Madness,” repeated Mark, “as sure as -we live.”</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“Take care,” said Will, retreating towards -the door, “he’s in a most rabid state.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I wonder where it will end,” returned -Mark, joining the huntsman’s side by the -door.</p> - -<p>“Who can tell?” rejoined Will, bitterly. -“We may lose half of ’em, perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“It was only yesterday,” said Will, “that -I gave him a dose of black brimstone and -lard, seeing that he was feverish.”</p> - -<p>“It was a mercy no accident occurred to -ye,” responded Mark. “A mere scratch -from a tooth would have——”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“Gameboy, sir,” replied Will, pointing to -the convulsive and agonized hound, “is mad -beyond a doubt.”</p> - -<p>“Are there any more with such symptoms?” -hurriedly asked the squire, scrutinizing the -object of their painful attention and interest.</p> - -<p>“We have not had time for a careful -examination, sir,” returned the huntsman;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -“but I saw none as we hastily separated -them.”</p> - -<p>“You have acted well,” said the Squire, -“and we must continue the same prompt -and sound judgment. Shoot that hound -instantly.”</p> - -<p>No sooner was the order given than Mark -produced a long, single-barrelled flint gun, -with which he was in the habit of slaughtering -rats about the precincts of the kennel, and -handed it to Will.</p> - -<p>“Do it for me,” whispered he, with a -quivering lip. “I feel quite sick.”</p> - -<p>Our feeder hesitated for a second or two; -but after a short struggle with a corresponding -reluctance to become the executioner, he -brought the piece to his shoulder, and drove -the charge crashing through Gameboy’s brain. -Without a perceptible throe of anguish, poor -Gameboy fell lifeless upon the flags, and so -ended, to us, this terrible tragedy.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“I hope not, sir,” returned Will, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -strangely inarticulate voice. “What shall -we do if——”</p> - -<p>“It’s useless to talk of what we <em>shall</em> do,” -interrupted his master irritably, “until we -learn what we <em>can</em> do. Draft the hounds.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Reload your gun,” said the Squire.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sir,” exclaimed Will Sykes, “don’t -have him shot yet. It does not look to me -like a bite.”</p> - -<p>“But it does to me,” replied his master. -“What think you, Mark?”</p> - -<p>The old man divided the hackles with his -thumb and finger, and after a careful -examination pronounced an opinion coinciding -with that of the huntsman.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I know that the hound is a great -favourite with both of ye,” said the Squire, -“and with good reasons. But remember, if -from any false feeling of kindness we spare -one infected, the entire pack may be lost.”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Still,” added our master, shaking his -head, “I entertain great doubt as to the -policy of hesitating to take the safer course. -However, let him be shut up by himself and -watched incessantly; and in the event of the -most trifling but certain symptom appearing, -wait for no instructions from me, but shoot -him.”</p> - -<p>I was now taken from the court and -subjected 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 -companions again soon after cub-hunting -commenced. During my involuntary retreat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 somewhat -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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Slow pass’d the night, and now with silver ray,</div> -<div class="verse">The star of morning ushers in the day;</div> -<div class="verse">The shadows fly before the roseate hours,</div> -<div class="verse">And the chill dew hangs glittering on the flowers;</div> -<div class="verse">The pruning-hook or humble spade to wield,</div> -<div class="verse">The cheerful labourer hastens to the field.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Trifles, light as air,” observed Trimbush, -“are frequently of the most 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 confinement from all society?”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” exclaimed I, “if I could have had -any anticipation of such a result, he might -have sucked my blood till now.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I was in a terrible fright,” rejoined my -friend, “that they were going to stop its -circulation at once.”</p> - -<p>“It would have been one of the most -unjustifiable murders ever committed,” returned -I.</p> - -<p>“That may be all very true,” added my -companion; “but what compensation would -the act of injustice have been to you?”</p> - -<p>“None,” replied I.</p> - -<p>“There have been innumerable such-like -mistakes committed,” said Trimbush, “and -never discovered. Fortunately for you, the -suspected had the benefit of the doubt.”</p> - -<p>“I consider that the Squire was far too -hasty in his decision regarding myself,” -responded I.</p> - -<p>“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 -preventing its extension is most wise and -prudent. At the same time, if a hasty panic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -overrules the cooler judgment, the engendered -evil may on evil’s head accumulate ten-fold. -Our master was decidedly wrong in contemplating -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.”</p> - -<p>“A distinction, with a material difference,” -I observed.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Were there any other doubtful cases -besides myself?” I inquired.</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Trimbush. “All were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -turned over with the greatest scrutiny; but -nothing suspicious appearing, we were -allowed to remain 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 Gameboy’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.”</p> - -<p>The tramp of three horses approaching the -kennel door put an end to this, our first -conversation since the fatal occurrence of -Gameboy’s death.</p> - -<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -reins over his arm, and leaning carelessly -against the side of his horse, but our “up-with-the-lark” -and excellent master.</p> - -<p>“You are behind your time, William,” -said he, throwing himself into his saddle.</p> - -<p>“Begging your pardon, sir,” replied the -huntsman, tugging at the curb chain securing -his thick watch in a very deep fob, “I think -not.”</p> - -<p>“By seven minutes,” rejoined his master.</p> - -<p>“Quite right, sir,” added Will, looking at -his apoplectic time-keeper. “Seven minutes -have given me the slip.”</p> - -<p>“No matter,” returned the Squire; “we -have scarcely light enough as it is.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Who has examined this cover?” asked -the Squire.</p> - -<p>“Tom Holt, sir,” replied the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“Where did you find most billets?”</p> - -<p>“In the field beyond this, sir,” replied the -whipper-in, with a touch of his cap.</p> - -<p>“Very good,” rejoined his master. “Then -take them there, William,” continued he,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -“and let the puppies see the old hounds feel -for the scent.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“So-oftly, Harbinger, so-oftly,” said -Will. “You’re as noisy as ever, I see.”</p> - -<p>“He’s incorrigible,” replied the Squire. -“Put him away.”</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“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 possesses -and persists in; and to use further forbearance -in retaining him in the pack would be -most unwise. You know, last season, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>“He’s to go, then, sir?” said Will.</p> - -<p>“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?”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 slashing -rate. The morning being warm, and the -scent good, there was no breathing time, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -the pace soon began to tell upon the family of -foxes, which we were now racing in divided -lots.</p> - -<p>“How many of them are there?” inquired -the Squire.</p> - -<p>“Not less than two brace and a half, sir,” -replied the huntsman.</p> - -<p>“Very good,” rejoined his master. “Let -the vixen go if she will.”</p> - -<p>He then galloped towards Tom Holt, and -just as he was about cracking his whip, a -signal from the Squire stopped him.</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“This cub is very much distressed, sir,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -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.”</p> - -<p>I now heard a succession of cracks from a -thong, which I knew to be Ned Adams’s.</p> - -<p>“He’s headed a fox back,” said Trimbush, -exultingly, “but it isn’t our hunted one. -He’s out—come along.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“They’re out, by heaven!” exclaimed the -huntsman. “Where can Ned be?”</p> - -<p>“All right,” returned the Squire. “They -broke from the side, and no one’s to blame.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“Gently, William, gently,” said his -master, reprovingly. “You appear to have -forgotten the golden rule of letting them -alone.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -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.</p> - -<p>“Who-whoop!” hallooed the Squire. -“Who-whoop, my beauty!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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!”</p> - -<p>“Ay, sir,” returned the huntsman, with a -knowing shake of the head. “If we have as -good, we’ve none better.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks to my instructions,” growled -Trimbush.</p> - -<p>“Come, come,” said I, “don’t be jealous -of the little praise I’m getting. You receive -your share.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Jealous?” repeated my companion, with -a proud lash of his stern, “I flatter myself -that I can afford to be <em>generous</em>.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“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 -probability of your leaving your fox behind in -the ditch, and then you would have said that -he had headed back to 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.”</p> - -<p>The huntsman touched his cap, and the -conversation dropped.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“For aught I see they are as sick that</div> -<div class="verse">Surfeit with too much, as they that starve with</div> -<div class="verse">Nothing.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We had just finished our breakfast one -morning, and were lying about the court to -assist digestion, when I chanced to remark -that I considered the flesh not quite so nicely -cooked as usual.</p> - -<p>“Your palate must be out of order,” -returned Trimbush. “Mark is as good a -boiler as ever heated a copper.”</p> - -<p>“Still the material might have been -tough,” said I, “and consequently required -longer boiling.”</p> - -<p>“I think not,” rejoined my friend, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -smack of his lips. “My taste may be -depended upon in such important matters.”</p> - -<p>“A great deal of one’s comfort depends -upon the cook,” I observed.</p> - -<p>“Beyond conception,” emphatically replied -the old hound. “In addition to -which,” he continued, “we can’t perform -our duties unless properly kept. The meal -must be good and old, the flesh well but not -over-boiled, and the broth rich and sweet to -enable us to kill foxes handsomely. Our -strength, speed, and wind, depend upon the -feeding.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt about it,” coincided I.</p> - -<p>“I remember,” resumed my friend, -“hearing a scientific opinion given on this -important subject to us from a thorough-going -sportsman of the name of Cecil. In a -few words I think more was never spoken.”</p> - -<p>“If not too much trouble,” said I, “it -would gratify me to hear it repeated.”</p> - -<p>“A pleased and patient listener,” returned -Trimbush, “invariably renders me a willing -speaker.” And after settling himself in a -position of the greatest ease, he commenced -the following philosophical dissertation on -catering for foxhounds:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It is a circumstance very universally -remarked by masters of hounds, huntsmen, -and others who are in the habit of making -observations in the field, that hounds have -appeared sooner blown when running on -moist days during this season than usual. -The cause has evidently arisen from the -peculiar mildness of the weather. Whenever -the atmosphere is damp and warm, it contains -a less quantity of oxygen than when it is dry, -clear, and bracing, and the effect on the -respiratory organs of all animals when -brought into active exertion is very apparent. -Hounds have been observed to lap water when -going to covert more freely on some occasions -than others, which is also a symptom of the -effect of the atmosphere.</p> - -<p>“Liebig’s very clever work may be consulted -to advantage, to ascertain how and -why certain causes and effects in the animal -economy are produced; but as many persons -who may be interested on the subject have not -an opportunity of procuring it, I will -introduce a few abbreviated extracts, which -are most particularly connected with the -effects of food and the peculiar conditions of -the atmosphere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Liebig says, ‘Two animals, which in -equal times take up by means of the lungs -and skin<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> unequal quantities of oxygen, -consume quantities of the same nourishment -which are unequal in the same ratio.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> As hounds do not perspire through the skin, I -apprehend they do not consume oxygen through -that medium: hence a reason why the efforts of -the lungs are so laborious when protracted exertions -call them into increased action.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“‘The consumption of oxygen in equal -times may be expressed by the number of -respirations: it is clear that in the same -individual the quantity of nourishment -required must vary with the force and -number of the respirations.</p> - -<p>“‘A child, in whom the organs of respiration -are naturally very active, requires food -oftener than an adult, and bears hunger less -easily. A bird deprived of food dies on the -third day, while a serpent, with its sluggish -respiration, can live without food three -months or longer.</p> - -<p>“‘The number of respirations is less in a -state of rest than during exercise or work. -The quantity of food necessary in both -conditions must vary in the same ratio.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> - -<p>“‘The quantity of oxygen inspired is also -affected by the temperature and density of -the atmosphere.</p> - -<p>“‘It is no difficult matter in warm -climates to study moderation in eating, and -men can bear hunger for a long time under the -Equator, but cold and hunger united very -soon exhaust the body.’</p> - -<p>“Liebig also states, ‘That the quantity of -food is regulated by the number of respirations, -by the temperature of the air, and by -the amount of heat given off to the surrounding -medium.’</p> - -<p>“From the foregoing remarks, it will be -seen how great an influence food has upon -animals called upon to exert such violent -labour as foxhounds are. The comparisons -of the duration of life, when deprived of -food, between the bird and the serpent, I -apprehend, relates to birds whose nature it -is to feed upon grain only, because the -carnivorous birds live much longer without -food, their respiration being slower: and I -infer by this that the power of endurance in -hounds, and their perfection of wind and -condition, are regulated by feeding them with -a due proportion of flesh, which, prepared by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -being boiled, is converted at once into blood.</p> - -<p>“All animals partaking of a mixed diet, -partly of grain, will be greatly influenced in -their respiratory organs by the proportions -which are given to them and the state of the -atmosphere. The quality of the blood being -regulated by the quantity and the quality of -food consumed, its capability of passing -through the lungs is governed. When an -animal has partaken largely of food which -renders the blood of that character as to cause -the consumption of a great quantity of oxygen -in its passage through the lungs, and the -atmosphere is deficient of that important gas—which -is always the case in close damp -weather, such as is occasionally experienced -during the winter—it follows, as a matter of -course, that hounds, and all such animals, -will quickly evince symptoms of distress, or, -familiarly speaking, will become blown, as the -causes which produce that effect predominate.</p> - -<p>“In hot climates man consumes very little, -if any, animal food; in cold ones, scarcely -anything else: and the Esquimaux will partake -of blubber, animal oils, or fat—a food -nauseating and disgusting to the people of -another climate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> - -<p>“With these facts it becomes apparent -how the quantity and quality of food require -to be regulated by circumstances, especially -on the day before hunting.</p> - -<p>“There are few, if any, masters of hounds -or huntsmen who are not aware of the -necessity of giving small proportions of flesh -during the warm weather at the commencement -of the season, and again in the spring, -when such a condition of the atmosphere -generally prevails as that which we so -universally experience during the months of -November, December, and January. Without -a certain proportion of flesh, it is well -known that hounds cannot work; that is to -say, they cannot go through the fatigues of a -quick burst or a protracted chase; at the same -time, too large a quantity will render them -gross and plethoric, consequently incapable of -exertion.</p> - -<p>“As the quality of the food depends in a -very great degree upon the manner in which -it is prepared, that becomes a subject worthy -of considerable attention. It is a practice in -many kennels to boil the flesh to a most -unnecessary and prejudicial extent, but it is a -custom which cannot be too strongly objected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -to. Flesh over-boiled is divested of its -nutritive properties in a very great degree. -It may be remarked by some, those who are -advocates for excessive boiling, that if the -nutritive properties are extracted from the -flesh, they are contained in the broth, and <em>that</em> -broth being given to the hounds, the nutritious -principles are still preserved—an argument -which I can by no means agree to.</p> - -<p>“Like man, the hound is found to thrive -best upon food composed of flesh and grain -combined, consequently a comparison between -the two may with propriety be introduced. -When a man undergoes the ordeal of training -for an athletic engagement, the animal food -which he partakes of is only subject to the -process of cooking in a moderate degree; -overdone meat is studiously avoided. To the -valetudinarian broth is prescribed as affording -light nourishment with a moderate -expenditure of the powers of digestion, but -is never called in aid to form a principal -portion of the aliment for the human subject -at a time when great exertion is required. It -is always found that broth creates thirst with -us, and there is no doubt it has the same -effect on the hound when given to a great extent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -more especially when made very strong.</p> - -<p>“I must observe, that I am by no means -about to recommend the disuse of broth in the -kennel; but I wish to point out the propriety -of giving it in moderate quantities, and of -depending upon the flesh which is given for -containing the bulk of nourishment, and -giving it in that state when it contains the -greatest quantity. It is an impression with -some huntsmen, that by boiling the flesh to -an excessive degree, the bad qualities are -extracted—that is to say, if the horse had any -disease about him, that the humours would be -extracted from the flesh; but then it must be -remembered that they would be contained in -the broth, in which state they would be quite -as injurious, or perhaps more so.</p> - -<p>“At the time when an animal is performing -great exertion, it is essentially requisite that -his stomach should contain but a small -quantity of food, but that food should be of a -nutritious character and easy of digestion. -The practice that I would recommend, and it -is one borne out by the reasons already -assigned, as well as by experiment, is, not to -give hounds any broth at all in their food -<em>on the day before</em> hunting.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The pudding must be reduced with pure -water which has been boiled, and the usual -allowance, or perhaps, on some occasions, a -trifling addition to the accustomed portion of -flesh must of course be given; by this method -of feeding, hounds will most assuredly do -their work far better than when a quantity -of broth with very little or no flesh is given; -a custom adopted in some kennels with very -bad results. From such treatment, hounds -will be observed light of muscle, big in their -bodies, and incapable of running up at the -conclusion of a severe day. By adopting the -recommendation of substituting water which -has been boiled, for broth, on the day before -hunting, it will be found that hounds will not -evince an equal degree of thirst by constantly -lapping on their road to cover, nor will they -be so soon blown in chase.”</p> - -<p>“There,” ejaculated Trimbush, upon the -completion of his task, “that’s what I call -giving the ‘why’s’ for all the ‘wherefores.’”</p> - -<p>Clever and philosophical as I deemed this -delivery to be, I had become somewhat -wearied with it, and in order to divert my -companion from steeping his senses in forgetfulness, -which his blinking eyelids bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -evidence was fast approaching, I asked him -if he had ever turned his attention to the -poetry as well as to the practical details of -hunting.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” inquired Trimbush, -with a sleepy stare of surprise.</p> - -<p>“Simply, whether you have made the -attempt of earning for yourself that fame,” -replied I, “which I intend gaining for -myself?”</p> - -<p>“I’m quite in the dark,” rejoined my -companion, testily.</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” returned I, “to be more -explicit, I mean to let my tongue appear <em>in -print</em>.”</p> - -<p>“In print!” exclaimed Trimbush, husky -with surprise. “How?”</p> - -<p>“Ah,” added I, quoting an early reply to -one of my interrogatories, “there are many -things as clear to our vision as the sunshine -at noon, and yet their causes are hid in -impenetrable darkness.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” added my friend, “I -don’t wish to appear inquisitive, but if you -should mix me up in your—your—”</p> - -<p>“Don’t say book,” remarked I. “It -sounds so gent-like.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Anything you please,” said Trimbush. -“But as I was about saying,” continued he, -“if you should come out so powerfully strong, -perhaps you’d make room for a little slice of -an attempt at a song upon our worthy master—God -bless him!”</p> - -<p>“Of your composing?” inquired I.</p> - -<p>Trimbush coughed, licked his paws, -examined the tip of his stern, as if a flea was -taking a liberty in that quarter, but gave no -answer.</p> - -<p>I repeated the question.</p> - -<p>“As you <em>will</em> have it,” he rejoined, -pettishly, “then it <em>is</em> my composition.”</p> - -<p>“I feel assured that you need not be -ashamed of it,” returned I. “Pray let me -hear the effusion.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll not laugh?” said he, inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Not if the intent be serious,” I replied.</p> - -<p>“In that case,” rejoined Trimbush, “here -goes!” and in a subdued, melodious voice, he -commenced his original song of</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<p class="center">THE OLD HUNTING SQUIRE.</p> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I’ll sing you a sporting song that was made by a sporting pate,</div> -<div class="verse">Of a fine old hunting Squire, who has a fine estate,</div> -<div class="verse">And who keeps his hounds and hunters at a liberal old rate,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And plenty gives to the poor and old who enter at his gate;</div> -<div class="verse">Like a fine old hunting Squire, one of the present day.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">His custom is, when at the Meet, to welcome great and small,</div> -<div class="verse">And a hearty greeting gives he to friends and neighbours all;</div> -<div class="verse">’Tis here the laugh and joke and jest right merrily go round,</div> -<div class="verse">“But hark, my boys! pray, cease your noise; for now sly Reynard’s found!”</div> -<div class="verse">Cries our fine old hunting Squire, one of the present day.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Although threescore and ten his years, he boldly takes the lead,</div> -<div class="verse">And flies the gate, the brook, and wall, and sweeps along the mead;</div> -<div class="verse">He never swerves nor cranes—not he; his true heart’s in the sport.</div> -<div class="verse">Oh! our fine old hunting Squire is one of the right sort!</div> -<div class="verse">A fine old hunting Squire, one of the present day.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">From scent to view they run him now, in vain fleet Reynard flies,</div> -<div class="verse">The ringing pack have doomed his death—he struggles, but he dies!</div> -<div class="verse">And at the finish who was there? Why he who at the burst</div> -<div class="verse">Led the boldest and the best, in the foremost flight was first—</div> -<div class="verse">Our fine old hunting Squire, one of the present day.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>“A beautiful chaunt!” ejaculated I, -pleased with the sporting rhyme, “and one -which shall have place in ‘The Life of a Foxhound.’”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Having doubtlessly made every note of -value which could be drawn from his experience, -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 this, -therefore, we will give an appropriate one in -a ringing</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Who-whoop!</span></p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p class="center larger">THE END.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of a Foxhound, by John Mills - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF A FOXHOUND *** - -***** This file should be named 52307-h.htm or 52307-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/3/0/52307/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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