XII. 



THE DEALER. 



Occasionally among the followers of the Meadow- 

 mere Hounds, with which I usually hunted, and more 

 often with a neighbouring pack which came within 

 reach of us at intervals, I was accustomed to notice a 

 stranger, whom I mentally called the JMajor, from his 

 close resemblance to a gallant officer whose name was 

 pretty generally known. 



The Major appeared to be a reserved man. He never 

 accorded to me that cheery greeting which pursuers of 

 the same foxes soon came to exchange even without 

 having previously gone through the ceremony of a 

 formal introduction ; neither was he, as a rule, com- 

 municative to other members of the hunt, though at 

 times I observed him exchanging salutes with men as 

 they cantered past, his portion of the exchange consist- 

 ing of a military inclination of two fingers to the brim 

 of his hat. 



The Major was somewhat tall — or looked so on his 

 horse — but slim in proportion, and rode well under 

 twelve stone. His whiskers were rigorously shaved off 

 in a line with the lobes of his ears ; a black double- 



