DECEMBER. 



GAMEKEEPERS. 



BY AUBYN TREVOR-BATTYK. 



'"WELL, my Lord/ says Cox, 'I'll do my best; but the foxes, 

 you see, my Lord, kill a deal of game.' ' But you are not to kill 

 the foxes, nevertheless ! ' says my Lord. ' By no manner of 

 means, my Lord ; on'y you see they ain't always at home ; foxes 

 will travel, and ' Cox,' says his Lordship, quite solemn-like, 



'listen to me: No Fox, no Cox! Good-night, Cox.' And the 

 gorse was never without a fox after that." 



You remember where that comes from ? Of course you do. 

 From one of the most charming books that ever were written. 

 The laconism expresses very fairly this general truth, that in an 

 average sporting district you have a right to expect an ample 

 supply of game and foxes, for the keeper who knows his business 

 can give you both. If this is so and it is written quite 

 deliberately the man who does not feel that he is master of the 

 subject may be wise to take refuge in this general principle : Ask 

 no questions, but judge by results. 



It is probably true that there is no class of English servants 

 that has its employers under its thumb to anything like the same 

 extent as the gamekeepers. The reason for this is not far to seek. 

 For of all those who employ a gamekeeper, how many have them- 



