WHERE TO HUNT 99 



eyes open you will have learnt something. There 

 are some Masters of Hounds who are such cur- 

 mudgeons that they do not like to see a stranger 

 out with their hounds, but luckily such round 

 pegs in square holes are the exception. 



Of course, there is the visitor and the visitor : 

 the man who ranges from one country to another 

 and who subscribes in none — for him no snubbing 

 is too severe ; and the man who does his duty in 

 his own country and who pays a visit in a friendly 

 way. The latter is generally sure of a hearty 

 welcome, and I remember well on one occasion a 

 well-known Master of Hounds, as good a sports- 

 man as ever carried horn at saddle-bow, saying to 



his huntsman at three p.m., " We will draw ," 



naming a covert three miles off, a sure find, " if 

 our visitors will go with us ; if not, we will go 

 home." Need I say that we went, and that we 

 had a run ? But the pleasure of these visits is 

 considerably enhanced when they take place at 

 rare intervals, and this is one more reason why I 

 say to those who want to enjoy the best that fox- 

 hunting has to give, " Identify yourselves with one 

 pack, and hunt from home." 



