SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 345 



knowing, old fellow, as lie might give you a lift up 

 another step in the ladder ; but now we have other 

 fish to fry^ and my impression is, there won^t be 

 much slow work this morning, if that bit of gorse 

 holds the animal. AVhat a lot of swells ! and such 

 a gathering of all nations and languages from the 

 four winds (i.e., four adjoining hunts) I have never 

 seen drawn together : over three hundred, and most of 

 them prepared to do their worst for Will and the pack, 

 and the best for themselves. The old master is 

 blithesome and gay," continued Sam, ^' flattered, no 

 doubt, by the compliments thus paid to him by so 

 large an assemblage of sporting men to meet his 

 hounds. Mr. Headman, as he is generally called, 

 looks as if he had got out on the wrong side of his 

 bed this morning ; but there is a cynical mischievous 

 expression in Jem^s eye, mounted on his Newmarket 

 second — how the old Squire got hold of him, I 

 cannot imagine — which tells us plainly enough that 

 he won't be distanced in the race by anybody out. 

 By Jove, George ! what a huntsman that fellow 

 w^ould make ! All alive O ! though looking as 

 demure — well, we wonH be vituperative — as a certain 

 sort of lady at a christening.'^ 



"Jem's a capital fellow in his place, Sam, and 

 knows all about it, but is no more suited to hunt 

 hounds now than you are. A man may be a first- 

 rate captain, who has not had sufficient experience 

 to shine as a general in the army. Jem is too fast 

 for everyday work, and would miss his headpiece 

 sadly if thrown upon his own resources. He will 

 grow older and wiser in a few years more, and then 



