CHAPTER XXI 



NERVE 



He knows where he's going, and means to be there. 



Whyte-Melville. 



Nerve has been defined by the lexicographers 

 as "steadiness and firmness of mind; self-com- 

 mand in personal danger or under suffering ; un- 

 shaken courage and endurance, coolness, pluck, 

 resolution." And it must be admitted that the 

 definition is a good one, covering most of the 

 ground. Yet have I known men who were 

 undoubtedly possessed of all these qualities in a 

 marked degree who were in no way good men to 

 hounds in the general acceptance of the term — 

 who, in other words, were lacking in nerve. And 

 some of these were fine horsemen, too. 



It is a curious quality that of nerve. A man's 

 nerve, by which I mean his riding nerve, will go 

 from him in a day ; it will sometimes, but not 

 frequently, come back to him as suddenly as it 

 departed. 



Every one who has hunted any length of time 

 and kept his eyes open must be able to call to 

 mind many a man who has commenced his hunt- 

 ing career with apparent enthusiasm, who has 

 gone like the proverbial "blazes" for two or 



