272 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



the Death." With his usual alternations 

 between days like this, and days of ill-luck, 

 he hunted steadily every season until his term 

 of private life again drew to a close and he 

 was called to the headship of the nation he 

 had so largely helped to found. 



In a certain kind of fox-hunting lore there 

 is much reference to a Warwickshire squire 

 who, when the Parliamentary and Royalist 

 armies were forming for the battle at Edge- 

 hill, was discovered between the hostile lines, 

 unmovedly drawing the covers for a fox. 

 Now, this placid sportsman should by rights 

 have been slain offhand by the first trooper 

 who reached him, whether Cavalier or Round- 

 head. He had mistaken means for ends, 

 he had confounded the healthful play which 

 should fit a man for needful work with the 

 work itself ; and mistakes of this kind are 

 sometimes criminal. Hardy sports of the 

 field offer the best possible training for war ; 

 but they become contemptible when indulged 

 in while the nation is at death-grips with her 

 enemies. 



It was not in Washington's strong nature 

 to make such an error. Nor yet, on the other 

 hand, was he likely to undervalue either the 

 pleasure, or the real worth of outdoor sports. 

 The qualities of heart, mind, and body, which 

 made him delight in the hunting-field, and 

 which he there exercised and developed, stood 

 him in good stead in many a long campaign 

 and on many a stricken field ; they helped to 

 build that stern capacity for leadership in war 



