82 CONVERSATIONAL HINTS 



But the head-keeper recks not of these things. 

 All the anxiety of the day is his. If, for one reason 

 or another, he fails to show as good a head of game 

 as had been expected, he knows his master will be 

 displeased. If the beaters prove intractable, the 

 birds go wrong, but the burden of the host's dis- 

 appointment falls on the keeper's shoulders. His 

 are all th6 petty worries, the little failures of the 

 day. The keeper is, therefore, not given to con- 

 versation. How should he be, with all these 

 responsibilities weighing upon him ? Few of those 

 who shoot realise what the keeper has gone through 

 to provide the sport. Inclement nights spent in 

 the open, untiring vigilance by day and by night, a 

 constant and patient care of his birds during the 

 worst seasons, short hours of sleep, and long hours 

 of tramping, these make up the keeper's life. And, 

 after all, what a fine fellow is a good keeper. In what 

 other race of men can you find in a higher degree 

 the best and manliest qualities, unswerving fidelity, 

 dauntless courage, unflinching endurance of hard- 

 ship and fatigue, and an upright honesty of conduct 

 and demeanour ? I protest that if ever the sport 

 of game-shooting is attacked, one powerful argu- 

 ment in its favour may be found in the fact that 



