PORTRAITS IN INK 197 



the russet with white, he ranges upland and low- 

 land with hound and gun, hunting foxes, matching 

 his knowledge against their cunning, and he is 

 thankful to be the winner, but not cast down if 

 he is the loser in the game. If he kills the fox, he 

 thriftily saves the skin, and prizes it the more if it 

 is prime and marketable. 



He is friendly and generous to sportsmen who 

 meet him in a like spirit, but not over-hospitable 

 to such who only make a convenience of him, his 

 home and hunting grounds. The first sportsman 

 in the land does not observe close seasons more re- 

 ligiously than this jealous guardian of nesting and 

 immature birds, of fox cubs and all young fur- 

 bearers, yet he will not be converted to the belief 

 that it is unsportsmanlike or unfair, in proper 

 season, to shoot a fox before hounds, or stalk a 

 sitting grouse, or catch a trout with a worm, all 

 of which he does, not only without compunction 

 but with absolute satisfaction. 



He is a close and intelligent observer of nature, 

 and freely imparts to congenial listeners what he 

 learns of her secrets; but concerning his love of her 

 he is as reticent as of the love of his sweetheart. 

 For all expression in words, you would imagine 

 that her infinitude of beauties are displayed in 

 vain to him in all moods and seasons, yet his tell- 

 tale face informs you how they satisfy his soul 

 and fill his heart with unwritten, wordless poetry. 



