134 - (HE LIFE OF A FOX.

began to move away from the entrance, when,
to my surprise, I found that there were no less
than three foxes in the drain beside myself; hav-
ing with great difficulty forced myself past the
first I came against, and whilst waiting anxiously
the result, we were all much frightened by sud-
denly seeing a glimpse of light some distance up
the drain beyond us. The men had dug a hole
through the top of the drain at that spot; and
shortly after this we heard them trying to force
a rough terrier, of the real Mackerson breed,
to enter; they at length succeeded; when he
immediately came down straight towards us.
Not a little alarmed, and each of us struggling
and striving to get away first, out we all bolted,
with the terrier close at our heels. The scene
which followed, it is almost impossible to de-
scribe. The first fox was pursued by the
greatest number of hounds, and, as I came se-
cond, the next greatest number followed me; and
so after us they came ; but our sally was so sud-
den that we fortunately had gained the start of

them by some ten or twenty yards.