14 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



animals) ; his opinion is listened to and taken by every- 

 body round about who has a dog, and sometimes he has 

 three or four under treatment for divers ills. By this 

 knowledge many ' tips ' are gained, and occasionally he 

 makes a good thing by selling a pup at a high price. He 

 may even be seen, with his velveteen jacket carefully 

 brushed, his ground-ash stick under his arm, and hat in 

 hand, treading daintily for fear of soiling the carpet with 

 his shoes, in the ante-room, gravely prescribing for the 

 ailing pug in which the ladies are interested. 



At the farmhouses he is invited to sit down and take 

 a glass, being welcome for his gossip of the great house, 

 and because, having in the course of years been thrown 

 into the society of all classes, he has gradually acquired a 

 certain tact and power of accommodating himself to his 

 listener. For the keeper, when he fulfils his duty in a 

 quiet way, as a man of experience does, is by no means 

 an unpopular character. It is the too officious man who 

 creates a feeling among the tenants against himself and 

 the whole question of game. But the quiet experienced 

 hand, with a shrewd knowledge of men as well as the 

 technicalities of his profession, grows to be liked by the 

 tenantry, and becomes a local authority on animal life. 



Proud, and not without reason, of his vigour and 

 strength, he will tell you that though between fifty and 

 sixty he can still step briskly through a heavy field-day, 

 despite the weight of reserve ammunition he carries. He 



