what's your hobby? 171 



liis riding; you might satisfy yourself of tliis at 

 any time. Supposing tlie courtesy of the master 

 of hounds induces him to address a stranger, if 

 the latter, wishing to be complimentary in return, 

 remarks that the master's horse is a tine one, he 

 would of course return a civil but a very indif- 

 ferent or careless answer; but let the stranger 

 judgmatically remark the form of some particu- 

 larly fine hound or two, the master cocks his ear 

 directly, the stranger rises quicker than mercury 

 in the scale of the master's opinion, and he will 

 find himself doubly noticed from that moment. 



^' It would be just the same if the stranger ad- 

 dress the huntsman, or even whips. Compliment 

 a huntsman on the condition, form, and unifor- 

 mity of his pack, he will think it worth his while 

 to take even extra pains to show the stranger they 

 are as good as they look ; remark anything about 

 his horse, he merely would look at you to en- 

 deavour to decide whether or not you are a horse- 

 dealer ; and if you gave him the slightest excuse 

 for doing so, would give you a ' hold hard ' in a 

 tone that would show he thought you one of a 

 sort likely to do mischief, and no possible good. 



" I remember, as a boy, remarking to a huntsman 

 a rather peculiar shaped snaflle he had on his 

 horse, the cheeks of it being in the shape of an S; 

 not, by-the-by, a very foolish shape either, though 

 an ugly one, as it prevents the cheeks drawing 



