82 HOUND AND HOEN ; 



" Well, sir," said the old man — and I believe I quote 

 pretty much his own words — "if I had been in a 

 hunting country I could have killed him in an 

 hour." 



" Hunting country 1 " exclaimed the Squire. " What 

 the something do you mean by that ? " 



" Well, sir," answered George Carter, " I beg your 

 pardon, but where I come from, the servant-girls did 

 used to htg flints to strike a light with the tinder-box " 

 (please, kind reader, to remember this was before the 

 day of lucifer-matches), " and where I were to-day they 

 were rolling about on the hillside as big as your head, 

 and we couldn't go very fast over them." 



But there was a still worse evil which he had to 

 contend with at home, when he first came into Hamp- 

 shire, and that was kennel lameness. 



The kennels at Tedworth, in Dick Burton's time and 

 when Carter first succeeded him, were on the top of 

 the hill, where the dairy now stands, and without 

 imputing any blame to the former huntsman, there 

 was hardly a hound that was free from this terrible 

 scourge. It was decided by Mr. Smith to move the 

 pack to some other locality, and new kennels were 

 built where they now stand. Bui George Carter had 

 a head on his shoulders, and had come to the conclusion 

 that kennel lameness was caused by rheumatism, or 



