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Into this the hare fled; Bobtail and Falcon were each about to

seize it, when the Judge checked the horsemen at the border of

the field; they had to obey, although in great wrath. The dogs

returned without their prey, and no one knew for sure whether the

beast had escaped or had been caught; no one could guess whether

it had fallen into the clutches of Bobtail, or of Falcon, or of

both at once. The two sides held different opinions, and the

settlement of the quarrel was postponed to the future.

The old Seneschal passed from room to room, glancing

absentmindedly about him; he mixed neither in the talk of the

hunters nor in that of the old men, and evidently had something

else on his mind. He carried a leather flapper; sometimes he

would stop, meditate long, and-kill a fly on the wall.