THE squarson's ITUXTSMAN. 1 25 



with Mr. Conyers. At the time of his succession to the 

 mastership of the Essex Houmls he was nearer 70 than 60 

 years of ai^e ; but he was stronsj^ and vigorous, his nerve 

 was ahnost as good as ever, and he was in every wav fitted 

 for his self-imposed task. Witli all speed he set to work 

 to build the present kennels near Mark Hall, and appointed 

 as his first huntsman Charles Barwick, from the Atherstone, 

 a somewhat unlucky choice, as it turned out ; but in Charles 

 Shepherd, his first whipper-in, he was more fortunate. 

 Shepherd, however, left at the end of his first season, and 

 and was replaced by an undoubtedly good man, Tom W'ilson, 

 who learned a good deal of his business in the P)urton 

 country under Lord Henry Bentinck, from whom he came 

 to Essex. 



At the outset, Mr. Arkwright found himself confronted 

 with difficulties of no slight kind. John Treadwell, by his 

 skill and the knowledge that he had to show as much sport 

 as possible with a scant supply of fo.xes, had killed prettv 

 well every fox in the country and, it was a long lime Ijefore 

 the stock was raised again. Then {Warwick was out of his 

 place as huntsman. In kennel he was quite first class ; but 

 was .so terribly slack and slow in the lield that the compara- 

 tively (cw opportunities vouchsafed to him were neglected. 

 His employer apparently regarded him as a nonentity, and it 



