The Mission of Sport 



vations by the direct confession that, 

 so far as my attachment to outdoor 

 sports may be considered a fault, I 

 am, as related to this especial predica- 

 ment of guilt, utterly incorrigible and 

 shameless. Not many years ago, 

 while residing in a non-sporting but 

 delightfully cultured and refined com- 

 munity, I found that considerable in- 

 dignation had been aroused among 

 certain good neighbors and friends, 

 because it had been said of me that 

 I was willing to associate in the field 

 with any loafer who was the owner 

 of a dog and gun. I am sure that 

 I did not in the least undervalue the 

 extreme friendliness of those inclined 

 to intervene in my defense; and yet, 

 at the risk of doing an apparently 

 ungracious thing, I felt inexorably 

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