141' THE HUNTING IIEIJ) 



till 3-011 arrived at his little rogucish black eyes, peerinj,' from 

 amon.i; the lumps of fat composinj:;; his unhealthy ginnificd 

 checks. The fellow is the biggest scamj) in the country. He 

 lies like truth. He comes out as much to fish out the secrets 

 of gentlemen's stables as in the hope of selling the horses he 

 rides, though he is always ready to do his best in that way, 

 particularly when he falls in with a flat, whom he will persecute, 

 and ride at, and talk at, with the audacious impudence peculiar 

 to travelling prospectus men, railway surveyors, and small 

 horse-dealers" men. He has been making a set at Paul 

 Poplin's mare, making her as fidgety and fretful as possible, 

 in order the better to recommend the antediluvian beggar on 

 \\'hich he is riding. The two Grooms in blue frocks and small- 

 striped waistcoats next him are neat, and after them there 

 comes a man made, dressed, and riding to our mind as a hunt- 

 ing Groom should be. He is short, light, and wiry. Forty 

 summers may have passed over his head, leaving traces of 

 the wear, but not the cares of life. On the contrary, his 

 clear, bright eye beams radiant on the cheerful scene, pro- 

 duced perhaps by the inward consciousness that his horse 

 will not be eclipsed by any in the field. See how all that 

 man's things are in keeping, from the hat on his head to the 

 spur at his heel. The nap is as close and as flat as his horse's 

 coat. There are no flowing locks protruding at the sides, the 

 pride of housemaids and abhorrence of masters. There are 

 no filthy, bristl}', gingery whiskers fringing his cheeks, or 

 extending round his chin. His horse and he are both well 

 trimmed. His clean white neckcloth is well put on ; no shirt 

 collars appear above. His dark grey coat and waistcoat show 

 the wear of work with the care of keeping, while his well- 

 put on dark drab mother-of-pearl buttoned breeches look as 

 though they neither courted nor dreaded the assaults of the 

 mud. Then the tops — there is mure in top-boots than in 



