MEN WHO HUNT A LITTLE 253 



tions. Occasionally he will be seen at a meet, and 

 he may go to see a covert or two drawn, but he 

 will not frequently be seen with hounds when the 

 season is at its height. 



Yet he will be au fait to all that is going on, 

 and his information on the doings of the pack 

 which he so ardently admires will always be 

 reliable. For he is a sportsman, this man who 

 hunts a little, perhaps at bottom a better sports- 

 man than some who ride in the first flight in all 

 the glory of the war-paint. No man pictures the 

 woes inherent on a long frost more pathetically 

 than he does, and no man rejoices more thoroughly 

 when the thaw comes and sets hounds at liberty 

 once more. 



Towards the end of the season he is seen to 

 great advantage. When the going gets good and 

 the gaps are well down, he is frequently to be 

 seen at handy fixtures, and March and April are 

 to him happy months indeed. But perhaps it is 

 on " the last day of the season " that he is seen to 

 the greatest advantage. Then he is indeed in his 

 element. He will tell you that hounds are only a 

 brace and a half off such a number, which is their 

 record, and that there is every chance of their 

 adding to their score to-day. And if they don't, 

 why we must get the Master to give us another 

 " last day." For the man who hunts a little 

 feels a genuine regret when the season is really 

 over, and is always to be found giving his vote in 

 favour of one more gallop. 



A real good fellow, and of immense use in a 

 country is the man whom I have attempted to 

 describe. He is the connecting link between the 

 regular hunting man and the man who does not 



