ing into the stream over
his ankles, bade me follow.

"We'll soon dry up," he said, "and this will gain us a minute or two."

Instead of going straight across, the wily hare began to paddle up the
middle of the stream for twenty or thirty yards, and, of course, in so
doing our scent was soon drifted away down the current. So we flattered
ourselves, when we at last did make the opposite bank, that our pursuers
would be puzzled for a minute or two to know what had become of us.

After a further quarter of a mile we thought we might venture to take
another brief halt on the strength of this last manoeuvre. We were
unable to do so where we could command a view of the hounds, but as we
reckoned we had at least gained three minutes, we felt we could quite
afford to take it easy for that length of time.

Fancy, then, our horror when, after about a couple of minutes, we heard
a cry of "Forward!" close to us, and evidently on this side of the
stream.

Off we dashed like mad, in a regular panic, and never checked our pace
till we had put three ploughed fields and a couple of wide ditches to
our credit. We did not discover till it was all over how it was our
cunning scheme to perplex the hounds had thus miscarried. Then we were
told that some of the scent, instead of dropping into the water, as we
intended, had lodged on the top of some stones in mid-stream, and this
had at once betrayed our dodge to the practised eyes of the foremost
hounds. It was a caution to be more careful another time.

We had to work hard to make up for the ground we had lost by this
mistake, but our next sight of the hounds showed that we were fairly
ahead again, and that the ploughed fields had (as Birch predicted) told
on a good portion of the pack, who now (at least, those of them who were
at all well up) scarcely numbered a dozen.

Half a mile farther brought us to Wincot village, down the main street
of which we sped, greatly to the admiration of the inhabitants, who
turned out in force to see the sport.

By this time we had fairly got our "second winds," and began to realise
the benefit of the steady training of the past fortnight. At an
ordinary pace, with the second wind well laid on, we felt we ought to be
able to hold out for the run home, unless some very unexpected accident
should intervene.

Past the village, we rattled on till we came to the railway embankment,
across which we trespassed, not without some difficulty, as it was