The Master and the Deputy-Master. 97 



from time to time, apart altogether from the manage- 

 ment of hounds, which, if they cannot be composed 

 by tact, must be dealt with promptly, firmly, and 

 with decision. With his committee, too, in the case 

 of a subscription pack, causes of annoyance are 

 likely to arise, but here the Master should, when 

 taking office, have placed himself in a sufficiently 

 strong position to disregard any cantankerous mem- 

 bers until he shall face them at the annual general 

 meeting at the end of the season. Causes of dis- 

 agreement are bound to arise from time to time, 

 and had better be met as they arise rather than 

 anticipated and worried over beforehand. But per- 

 haps we have dealt sufficiently with the troubles 

 likely to beset the Master of Otter-hounds : there 

 are pleasures, as he will find, that far outweigh the 

 pains. 



The Master's position in the field is defined in 

 the chapters on the actual hunting of the Otter. 

 Here we have merely to deal with him in his 

 relation to the hunt, as represented by the com- 

 mittee, and in connection with the management of 

 kennels. 



To take the last first, it may be laid down as an 

 axiom that one of the first points in a successful 

 tenure of the Mastership of Otter-hounds is that the 

 M.O.H. should live in almost constant touch with 

 his hounds. The man who only meets hounds on 



H 



