THE LIFE OF A FOX. 129

time afterwards killed, scarcely having left the
covert.

I had one or two more escapes from this deter-
mined huntsman and _ his killing pack, which
escapes I attributed to my good luck in having
been hunted by them on bad Scenting days,
and also in taking refuge in drains. Learning
that many of my friends had been killed by
them, I was induced to move into Roxburghshire,
the country hunted by the Duke of Buccleuch’s
hounds, and adjoining the two hunts before
described to you. There I had not been long,
before I was found in a small covert by the
Duke’s pack, as. Williams, the huntsman, calls
it, though he seems to do just what he likes
with it. Be that as it may, he knew pretty well
where to find me, and it was done in a few
minutes. The hills form a part of the country
that he surpasses most men in riding across ;
and after running over them for some time -
towards the Cheviot, the blue tops of which
seemed at the time to be higher than the clouds,
the hounds came to a check, owing, as it was

G 5