FOX-HUNTING TYPES 241 



to be told that he only came out '* for air and exercise " 

 — perish the thought ! 



And yet there are, we notice, signs and tokens 

 which serve to place him unmistakably, and the 

 weather is the first of these. Just a little bit of a 

 feather-bed sportsman is our friend, for — 



"When the morn comes dim and sad 

 And chill with early showers," 



it may come to pass that we miss his cheery pre- 

 sence at the fixture ; though, if the day clears up, 

 very likely he will turn up smiling somewhere in the 

 neighbourhood of the second draw. 



On a fine morning it is a pleasure to be overtaken 

 by him on the way to the meet ; for our friend gene- 

 rally drives, and very comfortable he looks in fur-lined 

 coat, with the softest and thickest of rugs lapped 

 round his goodly person. He hails you with a pleasant 

 bit of chaff, and almost always has a bit of news ; for, 

 early in the day though it be, he has managed to get 

 a glimpse of the morning paper, and to wade comfort- 

 ably through his correspondence while he breakfasts ; 

 for he is not the man to be tempted from his daily 

 routine by any undue excitement or flurry because 

 there's a day's hunting before him. 



Perchance he whizzes by with a laughing "good 

 morrow " in the most up-to-date of motor-cars ; but, 

 be his vehicle driven by petrol or drawn by horses, it 

 is pretty sure to combine comfort with dispatch. 



When he exchanges his conveyance for a hunter he 

 is not going to be less pleasantly carried. His groom 



Hounds, Oentlemeji, Please. 17 



