THE LIFE OF A FOX. 87

but the hallooing of the hunters soon frightened
me down again. At length I went straight away
across the down in view of all the hunters, and
had not gone more than a hundred yards, before
a large man on a heavy grey horse rode between
me and the covert, and began hallooing in the
most frightful manner, at the same time waving
his hat, as if he was out of his mind; the con-
sequence of which was, that the hounds, which
were hunting me closely out of the covert, im-
mediately they saw and heard him, threw up their
heads and ran wildly after him, expecting to see
me, which fortunately they did not, as I had by
that time just got beyond a small elevation in
the down, which prevented the man also from
seeing me. I turned directly to the left. He
now found out the mischief he had done, by
causing the hounds to lift their heads, and
galloped on still further, hoping to get another
view of me, but in vain, as I had sunk into a
small valley, and he luckily turned the hounds in
a direction opposite to that in which I had gone.
The scene at this time defies description. ‘ What