an down into the meadow again.

"Run like blazes, now!" shouted Frank.

And, suiting the action to the word, he turned off in the opposite
direction, and led the way through the woods at a rate which made
Archie wonder. They ran along in "Indian file"--Brave bringing up the
rear--for almost two miles, through the thickest part of the woods,
when they again found themselves on the ridge. After ascertaining that
the fox had not yet passed, they took their stations.

"I would really like to know which way that fox went," said Archie,
panting hard after his long run.

"I am almost certain that he took to the other ridge," answered Frank.
"I think we should have heard the hound before this time, if he had
turned this way."

They remained in their places of concealment for almost an hour,
without hearing any sounds of the chase, and Frank said,

"We might as well start for home."

"Dished again, are we?" said Archie, in a deprecating tone. "That's
too bad! Well," he continued, "we can't always be the fortunate ones,
but I wish I could have had the pleasure of shooting that fox. But
which way do we go to get home?"

"We must go exactly south," said Frank.

"Which way is that?"

"I will soon tell you."

And Frank drew a small compass from his pocket, and, in a moment,
continued,

"This is the way. Come on!"

And he turned his face, as Archie thought, directly _from_ home, and
struck boldly out. Their long run had taxed their endurance to the
utmost. If they had "been in practice," they would have looked upon it
as merely a "little tramp;" for, during the previous winter, they had
often followed a fox all day without experiencing any serious
inconvenience; but, as this was the first exercise of the kind they
had had for almost a year, they felt the effects of it pretty
severely.

Archie, who had lived in the city during the summer, was "completely
used up," as he expressed it; and his cousin was weary and footsore;
and it seemed as though neither of them had sufficient strength left
to take another step.

They kept on, hour after hour, however, without once stopping to rest;
and, about three o'clock in the afternoon, they climbed over the fence
that inclosed Uncle Mike's pasture, and came in sight of the cottage.

George and Harry were sitting on the piazza, and, as soon as they came
within speaking distance, the latter held up the fox, exclaiming,

"We were lucky, for once in our lives."

"If we had bee