LORD MANNERS 75 



be quite sure that a pack which won't bear being 

 Ufted has no confidence in its huntsman. 



The trust and sympathy which his pack had for 

 Firr was plain to be seen ; they knew they would not 

 be deceived, and if he helped them, it would be 

 help in the right direction. 



A hound is a reasoning animal, which added to 

 intuition or instinct enables him to gauge fairly 

 accurately the capabilities of the man who pre- 

 sumes to assist him in hunting. 



Anyone with a love for animals, and who also 

 takes the trouble to make their acquaintance, can 

 gain the affection of a pack of hounds, but it does 

 not in the least follow that they will allow their love 

 to blind them to his defects in the field. 



I seem to be meandering from my text, which 

 was a summary of Lord Manners' second and last 

 season, but the subject of Tom Firr always works 

 up the old enthusiasm and admiration I felt for the 

 man when hunting with him. Having begun I 

 may as well continue, although he carried the horn 

 for many seasons afterwards. He was very quick, 

 but never in a hurry. Very quiet, but had a beauti- 

 ful voice, and his cheer would always put new life 

 into a pack. In provincial countries where there 

 is no crowd, you can perhaps afford to stand outside 

 a covert and blow your horn until nearly all the 

 pack are out, but in the Shires you must get after 

 your fox as quickly as possible. My own opinion 

 is that unless hounds are running another fox, they 

 ought to be out of covert as quickly as the huntsman 

 and should therefore never be waited for. A hound 

 hates to be left behind. 



Tom Firr always kept in touch with his pack 



