ir for us to have the fox-hunt while he's gone. I
was thinking we should have to put it off."

The others agreed that it would not be unfair.

"We can have another one another time if he wants to," Oswald said.

We know foxes are hunted in red coats and on horseback--but we could not
do this--but H. O. had the old red football jersey that was Albert's
uncle's when he was at Loretto. He was pleased.

"But I do wish we'd had horns," he said, grievingly. "I should have
liked to wind the horn."

"We can pretend horns," Dora said; but he answered, "I didn't want to
pretend. I wanted to wind something."

"Wind your watch," Dicky said. And that was unkind, because we all know
H. O.'s watch is broken, and when you wind it, it only rattles inside
without going in the least.

We did not bother to dress up much for the hunting expedition--just
cocked hats and lath swords; and we tied a card on to H. O.'s chest with
"Moat House Fox-Hunters" on it; and we tied red flannel round all the
dogs' necks to show they were fox-hounds. Yet it did not seem to show it
plainly; somehow it made them look as if they were not fox-hounds, but
their own natural breeds--only with sore throats.

Oswald slipped the pistol and a few cartridges into his pocket. He knew,
of course, that foxes are not shot; but as he said:

"Who knows whether we may not meet a bear or a crocodile."

We set off gayly. Across the orchard and through two cornfields, and
along the hedge of another field, and so we got into the wood, through a
gap we had happened to make a day or two before, playing "follow my
leader."

The wood was very quiet and green; the dogs were happy and most busy.
Once Pincher started a rabbit. We said, "View Halloo!" and immediately
started in pursuit; but the rabbit went and hid, so that even Pincher
could not find him, and we went on. But we saw no foxes.

So at last we made Dicky be a fox, and chased him down the green rides.
A wide walk in a wood is called a ride, even if people never do anything
but walk in it.

We had only three hounds--Lady, Pincher, and Martha--so we joined the
glad throng and were being hounds as hard as we could, when we suddenly
came barking round a corner in full chase and stopped short, for we saw
that our fox had stayed his hasty flight. The fox was stooping over
something reddish that lay beside the path, and he said:

"I say, look here!" in tones that thrilled us throughout.

Our fox--whom we must now