174 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



to " draw " him, he has the finest talent for holding 

 his tongue of any man I ever met. His is a life 

 of hardship ; he is exposed to all the vicissitudes 

 of a changeable climate, and he pays a big price 

 for the limited amount of sport which he is enabled 

 to see. Yet he is, perhaps, to be envied after all. 

 He is a thorough sportsman at heart, and no 

 scarlet-clad hero, mounted on a 300-guinea hunter, 

 enjoys his share of the sport with a keener zest 

 than does our runner. He is, moreover, a hound 

 man and a naturalist. He is thoroughly at home 

 in the kennel, where, on account of the numberless 

 good offices he does, he is a welcome guest. He 

 knows the hounds, though, of course, he is not an 

 expert with their pedigrees, and he can tell whether 

 they are right during the early days of cub-hunting 

 by their cry, which is more than many a bold 

 sportsman can do. An observant man, he knows 

 the habits of all game and wild animals in a 

 remarkable degree, yet I have never known him 

 to be a poacher. He is, however, invaluable as a 

 beater at a " big shoot," and the keeper knows 

 how well he can manage the rest of the beaters, 

 and puts his trust in him accordingly. Yes, on the 

 whole, his lines are cast in pleasant places, for he 

 has the respect of his social superiors and equals. 

 He is the terror of the wrongdoer in the hunting 

 field, and he has gathered up a store of sporting 

 lore which, to a man of his temperament, must be 

 an everlasting fund of entertainment when no longer 

 able to follow his favourite pack. 



