I40 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



may be blackmailed by those in his employ, but this 

 matter of secret commissions is, perhaps, the most 

 flagrant instance. I never raise any objection to 

 people giving my servants presents if they wish to 

 recognise their good ofifices in that way, but I do 

 most strongly demur to paying more for an article 

 simply because my own men levy a toll on it. The 

 whole system is a rotten one. There are, I know, men 

 who never think of buying a horse without giving the 

 groom a sovereign, the man they buy it of often giving 

 a like amount to their man. How absurd this is ! If 

 the man had been of any real service in drawing your 

 attention to the bargain there might be some sense in 

 it. As it stands, you might just as well tip the man 

 behind the counter half a crown every time you go to 

 to your hatter's for a new hat ! 



Here, then, I must conclude this sowewhat lengthy 

 chapter on the Master's expenses. If I have seemed a 

 little careful as to detail, I would plead that I do not 

 write without some six seasons of experience, and also 

 that the question of finance is one that in a measure 

 calls for detail. Let me in conclusion warn the 

 aspiring M.F.H. that no man can nowadays hope to 

 hunt a pack of hounds free of cost to himself. It 

 takes a very good subscription list indeed to let him off 

 scot free. 



Then, again, the worry and bother are almost inde- 

 scribable. He is Master in name, and in the field let 

 us hope in something more than name ; but no man, 

 more particularly in a good shooting country, is more 



