"HOUNDS, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE! " 7 



one which only he could, have framed — rose to my 

 memory, but not to my lips. 



Incidents such as these crop up so often during the 

 hunting season that one is set wondering what many 

 people imagine they have come out to do when they 

 leave their homes for the meet — not that any one 

 objects to their ideas, whatever they may be ; for 

 we claim for hunting the superiority over all other 

 pastimes, inasmuch as it affords more amusement to 

 more people, many of whom enjoy themselves equally 

 but for totally different reasons ; yet all are supposed 

 to be " hunting the fox." 



Nevertheless, I do think that the pleasures of the 

 chase would be enhanced to many of its followers 

 were they to train themselves to take a little more 

 interest in hounds. Most Masters of Hounds of my 

 acquaintance — and I am proud to say it is a pretty 

 extensive one — are glad to show the pack to visitors, 

 and if the M.F.H. observes a real interest taken he 

 is generally anxious for the visit to be repeated. 

 Now a visit to the kennel and a chat with the hunts- 

 man generally leaves food for reflection, and a 

 keen desire to see and notice some hounds that have 

 been admired at their work in the field when next 

 we go a-hunting. It is well also to learn the names 

 of at least some of the champions of the pack, the 

 real "reliables"; for it may chance during a season 

 that you may notice a hound away on a line when 

 nobody else is near, and if you are able to tell the 

 huntsman that "old Chorister showed a line outside 

 the wood," or that "Tell Tale had it back beyond 

 the road," the mention of the names of these sages 



