In Society. 13 



by everybody round about who has a dog, and some- 

 times he has three or four under treatment for divers 

 ills. By this knowledge many ' tips ' are gained, and 

 occasionally he makes a good thing by selling a pup 

 at a high price. He may even be seen, with his 

 velveteen jacket carefully brushed, his ground-ash 

 stick under his arm, and hat in hand, treading daintily 

 for fear of soiling the carpet with his shoe, in the ante- 

 room, gravely prescribing for the ailing pug in which 

 the ladies are interested. 



At the farm-houses he is invited to sit down and 

 take a glass, being welcome for his gossip of the great 

 house, and because, having in the course of years been 

 thrown into the society of all classes, he has gradually 

 acquired a certain tact and power of accommodating 

 himself to his listener. For the keeper, when he ful- 

 fils his duty in a quiet way as a man of experience 

 does, is by no means an unpopular character. It is 

 the too officious man who creates a feeling among the 

 tenants against himself and the whole question of 

 game. But the quiet experienced hand, with a 

 shrewd knowledge of men as well as the technicalities 

 of his profession, grows to be liked by the tenantry, 

 and becomes a local authority on animal life. 



Proud, and not without reason, of his vigour and 

 strength, he will tell you that though between fifty 



