62 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



up to hounds, and "taking hold" of a big field if 

 any one is inclined to press on at a check, his absence 

 on an odd occasion will not be missed. His field will 

 know that he is generally there, and will, even if they 

 do not see him, act as if he was bang in front. 



It will perhaps hardly be credited in these days, but 

 we once knew a master who, when he first took office, 

 was actually under the impression that it was a point 

 of honour with every master of hounds that he should 

 lead his field throughout the day, and this man fretted 

 sorely when any one rode in front of him even for a few 

 minutes. It need hardly be said that the pack, though 

 good enough in its way, and capable of showing 

 excellent sport, was not a fashionable one, and the 

 mastership often went begging. 



Our friend was a rich man, who had come into 

 sudden wealth, but who had previously been unable 

 to indulge the passion for hunting, which he un- 

 doubtedly possessed. He was, too, a powerful athletic 

 man, and a bold, fearless horseman ; and as soon as 

 he could afford it he not only got together a valuable 

 stud of hunters, but took the mastership aforesaid. It 

 was late in the autumn when he took hold, and we saw 

 the pack only a fortnight after the season had opened. 

 Hounds were running all day in a cramped country, 

 and wherever they went the master was with them, 

 jumping what were apparently impossible, and often 

 unnecessary fences, and altogether giving such an 

 exhibition of fearless horsemanship as is very seldom 

 seen. During the evening we congratulated him on 

 his prowess, and then it came out that he thought it 

 was incumbent on the master to show the way at all 

 times, and that masters as a rule were chosen because 

 they were the best men to hounds. 



