240 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



"Horsemen!" said our hero contemptuously, "what 

 sort of horsemen 1 " 



" Why, some of the right sort, sir," replied Dick ; " Mr. 

 Hammond was one of them that could not go to the end, 

 and Farmer Williams on the old grey mare." 



"The old grey mare," continued Frank, "fed upon 

 clover, hay, and Swedish turnips in the winter, and lying 

 with the feeding oxen all the summer." 



" Beg pardon, sir," resumed Dick ; " it is true the old 

 mare lies with the feeding oxen in the summer, but the 

 old gentleman gives her the best of everything in the 

 winter, and the Squire's horses do not eat better hay or 

 corn. Then there was Lord Brock on one of his Leicester- 

 shire horses ; his Lordship had quite enough of it at the 

 finish ; and, what was more, I heard him tell the Squire 

 that he never saw hunting quite perfect till that day. It 

 certainly was a beautiful sight to see how the hounds did 

 their work from first to last ; how they turned with the 

 scent, and what a head they carried ; and how the blood 

 of old Tyrant told at the last, for every hound was in his 

 place." 



Time had been when Frank Raby would have been 

 entranced with this short but graphic description of an 

 eight miles' burst, but the charm was now dispelled ; so, 

 turning on his heel, he pursued his course with merely 

 telling Dick " it was all very fine, but he had taken his 

 leave of thistle-whipping." 



Our hero's next visit was to the keeper, to inquire into 

 the state of his kennel. This he found quite to his satis- 

 faction. It contained three brace of well-broken setters ; 

 three couples and a half of spaniels, all as mute as a gate- 

 post ; two capital Newfoundlanders, then just coming into 

 fashion as retrievers of wounded game ; and four brace of 

 greyhounds of the best blood in the country, some of them 

 having proved themselves such by the various prizes they 

 had gained. But matters did not end here. Two brace 

 of fine young setters had been sent off into Cheshire, 

 in the pairing season, to be broken on the down- 

 charge system, by old Potts, and were not as yet returned. 

 " Your kennel, Perren, is all right," said our hero ; 

 " I think there will be few better teams than mine, 

 next year, on the moors. How does Jack get on in his 

 business ? Is he improved in his shooting and vermin- 

 catching '? " 



