2 1 6 The Gamekeeper at Home. 



By contact with bad characters a weak keeper 

 may be contaminated without volition of his own at 

 first : for we know the truthful saying about touching 

 pitch. The misfortune is that the guilty when at 

 last exposed become notorious ; and their infamy 

 spreads abroad, smirching the whole class to which 

 they belong. The honest conscientious men remain 

 in obscurity and get no public credit, though they 

 may far outnumber the evil-disposed. 



To make a good keeper it requires not only 

 honesty and skill, but a considerable amount ol 

 ■ backbone ' in the character to resist temptation and 

 to control subordinates. The keeper who has gone 

 to the bad becomes one of the most mischievous 

 members of the community : the faithful and upright 

 keeper is not only a valuable servant, but a protection 

 to all kinds of property. 



