Hunt, Henry, 1773-1835; Social reformers -- Great Britain -- Biography
inevitable destruction by the hounds seizing upon me, gave all at once an
involuntary scream, and implored me to retreat as quickly as possible;
but, having once made up my mind to accomplish an object, the word
_retreat_ was not in my vocabulary. Nothing daunted, I swam boldly up, and
faced the approaching pack, calling each hound by his name, which I
fortunately knew, and, which was still more fortunate, my voice was as
well known to them. I swam and fought my way through them, cheering and
hallooing to them, as if in the chace. They all turned, and continued to
swim with me again up to the poor stag, with the exception of one old
hound, _Old Trojan_, who, unperceived, seized fast hold of me by the thumb
of the right hand, which at once checked my progress and gave me great
pain. I called him by his name, but it was in vain, for he held fast; upon
which, with considerable effort, I dragged him under water, and seizing
him by the throat with the other hand, I held him there till he let go his
hold. During this struggle we both disappeared under the water together,
to the great consternation of the anxious beholders. Up we came together
again, but I continued to grasp him firmly with my left hand by the
throat, and I, for a short time, exhibited the caitiff in this state, with
his mouth open and his tongue out; to shew how completely I had subdued
him, I gave him one more ducking under water and let him go: I then
continued my course without further interruption towards the stag, who
had, meanwhile, drifted twenty or thirty yards down with the current,
which was very rapid, surrounded by every hound in the pack (twenty-two
couple), with the exception of poor Old Trojan, who now kept at a very
respectful distance behind us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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