172 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



well fitting, his boots and leggings clean, and his 

 hat or velvet cap — he rather affects the latter if he 

 can get one — is spotless. He has not yet got to 

 the white-tie stage ; at least I have never known 

 one of his cloth to sport a white tie. Neither is 

 the gaudy-coloured, cheap silk abomination affected 

 by him. His neck covering takes one back into 

 the long ago, and his choice lies between a wisp of 

 black silk put loosely twice round his neck and tied 

 in a small bow or a woollen " comforter," generally 

 of the "shepherd's plaid" pattern. Gloves he 

 never affects ; indeed, it is questionable whether 

 he ever had a pair on in his life, but I have, in 

 very cold weather, seen his hands partly protected 

 by muffatees coming well down. His stick, 

 generally an oak or a hazel, is of his own cutting 

 and trimming, and is as serviceable and hard- 

 looking as he is himself. 



I have said that he is a man who scorns to ask 

 or hint at such a thing as a money present, but 

 when a hunt is lucky enough to have such a 

 " runner " as he is attached to it, there are countless 

 ways in which benefits can be rendered to him 

 without wounding his pride. Not infrequently I 

 have known him deputed to look after certain 

 drains and earths haunted on occasion by foxes 

 when those earths and drains are out of the beat of 

 the regular keeper, and he is occasionally sent on 

 messages of importance, for which work, of course, 

 he is well paid. There is one article in his creed, 

 and that is that when hounds are out there it is his 

 duty to be, and I have heard men of his class say 

 that they scarcely have missed a day for seasons. 



Now just imagine for one moment what this 

 means for a poor man who is obliged to work hard 



