THE HUNTSMAN 123 



when all are running ; and should have so 

 excellent an ear as always to distinguish the 

 foremost hounds when he does not see them : 

 he should be quiet, patient, and without conceit. 

 Such are the excellencies which constitute a good 

 huntsman : he should not be, however, too fond of 

 displaying them till necessity calls them forth : he 

 should let his hounds alone whilst they can hunt, 

 and he should have genius to assist them when 

 they cannot* I can quite understand that this 

 list of attainments would be rather appalling to 

 a modest man who had no great opinion of his 

 own abilities and yet wished to become a hunts- 

 man. It would be almost impossible to find in 

 one man all the qualities necessary to make a 

 perfect huntsman, but he would be a singularly 

 unfortunate person if he did not possess one of 

 those enumerated. 



There are very few establishments now where 

 the man who hunts the hounds is expected to 

 have anything to do with the horses, but there 

 is no harm in knowing a groom's work. Beck- 

 ford wrote from the employer's point of view, 

 and naturally tried to get a man as near per- 

 fection as possible for the post ; but I wish to 



