THE LIFE OF A FOX. 99

which was not likely; I may add, on this
occasion, that I went to the coverts at Comb,
to which place they also came to find another
fox. They did not cross the line I had
come, but passed through part of a large
covert where I had stopped, without drawing
it, expecting to find a fox at the other end
of it. |
Seeing this, I slipped back behind them, and
was stealing away, as I thought, undiscovered
(no uncommon thing for me to do), but, un-
luckily, a man in a red coat had stopped back,
as if on purpose to see any fox that might be
left behind; and as soon as I was out of sight
he gave a loud view-halloo, by repeating which
he brought the hounds after a short time on
to the line of my scent. This caused me to.
lose no time, and having now a good start, I
ran straight through all those large woods until
I got to the end of that near the railway, when
I turned to the right;. and after stopping in
an outside covert for some time, thinking that
I had escaped, I heard the hounds hunting
F 2