86 CONVERSATIONAL HINTS 



sturdily and conscientiously, and, as a rule, triumphs 

 over him, he does not generally, being what I have 

 described him, brag of these victories, nor, indeed, 

 does he care to talk about them. ' There, but for 

 the grace of God, goes Velveteens,' must be the 

 mental exclamation of many a good keeper when 

 he hears his enemy sentenced to a period of com- 

 pulsory confinement. I do not wish to be 

 misunderstood. There are poachers and poachers. 

 And whereas we may have a certain sympathy for 

 the instinct of sport that seems to compel some 

 men to match their skill against the craft of fur or 

 feather reared at the expense and by the labour of 

 others, there can surely be none for the methodical 

 rogues who band themselves together on business 

 principles, and plunder coverts just as others crack 

 cribs, or pick pockets. Even sentiment is wasted 

 on these gentlemen. 



But I return from this digression. The one 

 subject, then, on which a keeper may be trusted to 

 become eloquent is that of 



FOXES 



Just try him. Suppose you are shooting a 

 wood, in which you expect to find a considerable 



