others who go well also. Straight riding, however, is the
exception and not the rule. It comes sometimes, and is the cream
of hunting when it does come; but it does not come as often as
the enthusiastic beginner will have taught himself to expect.

But now we will go back to the covert, and into the covert if it
be a large one. I will speak of three kinds of coverts, the
gorse, the wood, and the forest. There are others, but none other
so distinct as to require reference. As regards the gorse covert,
which of all is the most delightful, you, my disciple, need only
be careful to keep in the crowd when it is being drawn. You must
understand that if the plantation which you see before you, and
which is the fox's home and homestead, be surrounded, the owner
of it will never leave it. A fox will run back from a child among
a pack of hounds, so much more terrible is to him the human race
even than the canine. The object of all men of course is that the
fox shall go, and from a gorse covert of five acres he must go
very quickly or die among the hounds. It will not be long before
he starts if there be space left for him to creep out, as he will
hope, unobserved. Unobserved he will not be, for the accustomed
eye of some whip or servant will have seen him from a corner. But
if stray horsemen roaming round the gorse give him no room for
such hope, he will not go. All which is so plainly intelligible,
that you, my friend, will not fail to understand why you are
required to remain with the crowd. And with simple gorse coverts
there is no strong temptation to move about. They are drawn
quickly, and though there be a scramble for places when the fox
has broken, the whole thing is in so small a compass that there
is no difficulty in getting away with the hounds. In finding your
right place, and keeping it when it is found, you may have