THE LIFE OF A FOX. 79

was shortly after seen in the plantation, and
hunted closely by the hounds, which, after
another long check, again got on my scent
in the wood where I was first found. They
hunted me very fast across some of the finest
grass country, and I was obliged to take refuge
in a drain under a road leading to a field,
where fortunately I found another fox, and
succeeded in getting beyond him in his retreat,
It often occurs that the fox which is hunted
and frightened forces his way beyond the fresh
one, and there remains during the operation
of digging, and when the huntsmen come by,
the fresh fox is drawn out, and given to the
hounds. Such was the case now, and so
I escaped, for luckily it was getting late,
and the hounds were taken away immediately,
without their discovering that I was left
behind. I had time to remark that only one
man, who was addressed as his Grace, was with
the hounds at the finish, or indeed for a long
time during the run, nearly all having left at
the time of slow hunting.
E 4