DRIVING 137 



care on first arriving at the scene of your week's sport 

 will keep you fairly right. Eschew the late afternoon 

 tea, which is too often only a severe astringent dose of 

 tannic acid, rendered still more noxious by luxuriantly 

 buttered toast ; eat and drink lightly at dinner, make 

 but moderate love (this book is not written for ladies, 

 and if it were they must know that ' there is causes 

 and occasions why and wherefore in all things,' as 

 Fluellen says) ; curtail the hour of the smoking-room 

 and the consumption of the weed by one half ; the 

 spirits and soda altogether ; and when you go to bed 

 take about a teaspoonful of mixed bicarbonate of soda 

 and ditto of potass ; then you will sleep, as well as 

 wake, cool and fit to take your part, at any rate up to 

 your usual capacity, in the day's sport. 



This to those who wish to feel there is no distance 

 they cannot walk, no bird they might not kill, and no 

 one they could possibly hate, in short, to feel fit and 

 shoot really well. To some others, if they will for- 

 give me, I would say, Eat the buttered toast, swallow 

 the tea, drink the champagne, discuss the port and 

 sample the 'old,' make love to the prettiest woman, 

 tell all the best stories and sing the latest songs, 

 smoke the largest regalia and go to bed last, in short, 

 enjoy everything, but don't for the love of heaven 

 go out shooting. And who knows but that you may 



