Page:Redcoat (1927).djvu/167

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did not yet fully appreciate the seriousness of this morning run, but it was soon borne in upon him.

First he led the hounds for a mile further down the river through a rough pastureland. Then he doubled back towards the road. By great good luck he approached the road where there was a long level stretch, so he discovered the first two hunters standing with thunder sticks in readiness waiting for him. He veered off towards the river, trying the roadway further up, but here his good nose told him another hunter was waiting, although he did not see him. For a mile he skirted the roadway, trying to find a place where it was not guarded. Once he drew the hunter's fire from long range but it did no harm. So, he finally doubled back southward and went all over the long hard run again. Perhaps the men would get tired of waiting and go home. But they did not. Four different times Redcoat ran the length of the half circle which inclosed him between the river and the roadway, and each time that he came back to the road he found the