minutes."

They made no difficulty about this, and, the lady of the house having
appointed herself time-keeper and having promised to have a large
tea ready for us when we returned, I was sent on my way with a bag of
paper and many shrill shouts of encouragement.

Now I ask my colleagues in the parental business to consider my case.
I daresay they fancy themselves as runners on the strength of their
remembered boyish feats and of certain more recent runs when they have
lingered too long over breakfast and have had to catch a train. I warn
them not to build a paper-chase on so slender a foundation. A jog-trot
seems the easiest thing in the world, but after two hundred yards the
temptation to lapse into a walk becomes irresistible. I will dwell no
further on my own experiences, but transfer myself in imagination to
the hounds who were chasing me. Afterwards I heard so much of their
exploits that I almost came to feel I had shared in their daring and
been a party to their final success.

From the garden door the line led across the road and on to a track
skirting the railway. This piece was taken at a brisk pace, the scent
being breast-high. A sheet might have covered the whole pack. Then
came a hairpin turn over the level crossing, a swing to the right and
a steady trudge up the hill. Half-way up there were gates to the right
and the left, and here the blown but wary hare had laid his first
false trail. This unsuspected device roused the utmost indignation,
and doubts were freely expressed as to its being legitimate. John was
sent to the right to investigate; Peggy went off to the left, which
proved to be the true trail, and in a very short time the dauntless
five were once more in full cry. Rosie, who is a reader of books,