120 THE LIFE OF A FOX.

ground, and according to his threat shot him
dead. The rage which was felt by all present it
is impossible to describe. They did not put him
in his own sack and throw him into a pond close

“rr by; but he was soundly horsewhipped and in-
stantly discharged from his place.

A much better feeling towards us now exists
in this part of the country, and I have no longer
a dread of being shot. But it is my intention to
return to my old country, near Billingbeare and
Shottesbrook, as I hear that the keepers there
receive strict orders never to destroy one of us.
This is the more handsome on the part of the
occupier of the latter place, as he is not a fox-
hunter himself. No doubt I shall be suffered to lie
in the coverts of the former, though I find much
of my food at Shottesbrook, where the coverts are
so thin and hollow, that I could not remain there
during the day without many chances of being
disturbed by the keeper’s dogs. I hope at some
future time to be able to tell you that the breed

' of foxes in those parts, and in the royal purlieus,

has so increased that it has been unnecessary for