THE HUNTSMAN 57 



go away, leaving lost hounds to "follow on," as a 

 treasure of a man we knew used to say. We spoke 

 in the past tense, but we kfiow him still, only he 

 carries a horn with letters on a mule, instead of pre- 

 tending to hunt hounds, and he seems quite in his 

 right place now. 



The Huntsman is the main spring in the machinery 

 of a hunting establishment, and upon his good con- 

 duct greatly depends the comfort and pleasure of the 

 Master. If the Huntsman is — what we must do them 

 the justice of saying the generality of them are — a 

 steady, honest, careful, accurate, economical, intelli- 

 gent, painstaking man, holding the money scales fairly 

 between his master and the public, neither cheating 

 himself, nor suffering others to cheat, soothing asperi- 

 ties, rather than creating them, demolishing difficulties 

 rather than raising them ; he will be a credit to him- 

 self, a comfort to his master, and the ornament of 

 a circle composed of men not only well capable of 

 appreciating, but also in the habit of substantially 

 rewarding respectability of character and keenness 

 displayed in their service. But if a Huntsman is a 

 low-lived, careless, gossiping, drinking, grinding fellow, 

 seeking only to feather his own nest, and that in the 

 shortest possible time, he will be a torment to him- 

 self and everybody about him ; and when he loses 

 his place, which he most likely very soon ^vill, 

 he will find his character so blown, that the mere 

 mention of his name to any other master will insure 

 him a polite answer that he has no occasion for 

 his services. A pack of hounds without a good 

 Huntsman are very much like a fiddle without a 

 stick. 



Despite, however, what we have said about the 

 liberality of sportsmen to huntsmen and hound 

 servants, we cannot but feel that, considering what 

 they do, the risks they run, and the zeal they show, 

 they are sometimes rather under than over paid. 



