THE LIFE OF A FOX. 141

was a flock of sheep in that field, or because
he thought I had gone to a covert in that direc-
tion. If the hounds had had their time, they
would have hit off the scent to the right of
the field. The upshot was, that I, thinking that
they had given me up, took the first oppor-
tunity of getting out of sight, not because I
was tired and beaten, as some suppose must
always be the case when we seek such places
of refuge; which they soon ascertained was the
case, for nearly as soon as the hounds had hunted
up to the drain on one side of the road, I started
off on the other; and though they had as good a
start with me as they could wish for, I contrived
to run away from them, owing to the scent not
being good enough for hounds to kill a stout fox
without assistance; and probably to the hunts-
man repeating his former mistake in making an
injudicious forward cast, when not wanted. He
did not now venture to hold the hounds for-
ward and across the line I came, or else they
would have got on the scent, as I returned

nearly the same way, which was ascertained by a