It was
not only that he was anxious to 'get well away', but that a sense
of duty compelled him to see how the thing was being done. Old
Fowler was certainly a little slow, and Dick Rabbit, with the true
bloody-minded instinct of a whip, was a little apt to bustle a fox
back into the covert. And then, when a run commences with a fast
rush, riders are apt to over-ride the hounds, and then the hounds
will over-run the fox. All of which has to be seen to by a Master
who knows his business.
Tregear followed, and being mounted on a fast horse was soon as
forward as a judicious rider would desire. 'Now, Runks, don't you
press on and spoil it all,' said Mrs Spooner to the hard-riding
objectionable son of old Runks the vet from Rufford. But young
Runks did press on till the Master spoke a word. The word shall
not be repeated, but it was efficacious.
At that moment there had been a check,--as there is generally after
a short spurt, when fox, hounds, and horsemen get off together,
and not always in the order in which they have been placed there.
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