Judged by the eye alone, the fox is the lightest and most buoyantcreature that runs. His soft wrapping of fur conceals the muscularplay and effort that is so obvious in the hound that pursues him, andhe comes bounding along precisely as if blown by a gentle wind. Hismassive tail is carried as if it floated upon the air by its ownlightness.

The hound is not remarkable for his fleetness, but how he will hang!--oftwelve running late into the evening and occasionally till morning, fromridge to ridge, from peak to peak; now on the mountain, now crossingthe valley, now playing about a large slope of uplying pasture fields.At times the fox has a pretty well-defined orbit, and the hunter knowswhere to intercept him. Again he leads off like a comet, very beyondthe system of hills and ridges upon which he was started, and hisreturn is entirely a matter of conjecture; but if the day be not morethan half spent, the chances are that the fox will be back beforenight, though the sportsman's patience seldom holds out that long.