82 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



huntsman was abused by two of the men for not obey- 

 ing orders. He (the huntsman) was an elderly man, 

 mild in character, and most unwilling to give offence. 

 But he could not stop the quarrel, and at last he fairly 

 broke down, and leaving hounds with the whippers-in 

 rode homewards to send in his resignation. 



Matters were now at a deadlock, but a dens ex 

 machina appeared in the person of a fourth covert 

 owner, a much younger man than the three who had 

 been quarrelling, but quite as important a member of 

 the hunt. When this gentleman had been told what 

 had taken place, he signalled to the whippers-in, who 

 followed him with hounds until they overtook the old 

 huntsman on his way back to kennels. He was quickly 

 cheered up by the new-comer, who kept pressing on 

 until a likely covert was reached. As it happened, the 

 country was full of foxes, and a quick find caused the 

 scene of half an hour before to be forgotten — for the 

 moment at all events. Only one of the three disput- 

 ants had come on, the two others having gone home 

 in dudgeon, but certainly two of the three wrote ample 

 apologies to the master and also apologised to the 

 huntsman, and possibly the third did likewise, but 

 it is so long ago that the details are difficult to re- 

 member. 



The story, however, illustrates the suggestion that 

 a divided authority in the hunting field cannot possibly 

 be maintained. If there are joint masters, they have, 

 of course, a mutual understanding. One hunts 

 hounds and the other takes charge of the field, or if a 

 professional huntsman is employed they divide the 

 master's duties in some other fashion. Perhaps the 

 country is a large one, hounds being out on four days 

 of the week, and in that case joint masters will indi- 



