206 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



young hounds that have killed him, and throws 

 his carcase into a bush, remarking, " Leadenhall 

 Market and mangy to boot," as he draws his 

 hounds out of covert. Nor is this sketch at all 

 exaggerated. More or less pronounced types of 

 this gentleman are to be found all over the country ; 

 they err perhaps in the first place from ignorance, 

 but if they remain unconscious of what goes on, 

 they are simpler than I, at any rate, give them 

 credit for. It must be admitted that, in the 

 majority of cases, they wink at the wrong-doings 

 of their keepers to their hunting neighbours, and 

 that being the case, 



Such sportsmen as these we good fellows condemn. 

 I vow we'll ne'er drink a " Ouassitum " to them. 



There is another type of the shooting tenant to 

 be considered, and he is a man in a different station 

 in life to the two whom we have already discussed. 

 He wants no shooting box ; he has no need for 

 any mansion, or, indeed, a residence of any kind. 

 He takes his shooting within easy reach of his own 

 house, preferring it within driving distance. He 

 likes plenty of ground to range over, and in these 

 days he frequently manages to take a decent shoot- 

 ing. He is joined by other two or three, and 

 from the first of September to the end of the 

 season his shooting-iron never cools. He is a man 

 of the towns, and is used to a town life ; in all 

 probability he still continues in business, and he 

 takes his recreation in what has been called especi- 

 ally the poor man's sport — partridge -shooting. 

 Frequently, nay, I may say generally, he is a very 

 decent fellow and a good sportsman, working hard 

 when out with his gun, and going home at night 



