92 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN 



nothing near so bad a skirter as his brother, who the first day 

 that I had him in the open, behaved so ill on a cold scent, that I 

 ordered the man from the Salisbury kennel — I forget his name at 

 this moment — to catch him and couple him up, or leave him at 

 a farm-house, anywhere so that he was not with me. The man 

 caught him and destroyed him on the spot ; and for this act, 

 unauthorised by me, he the same night received warning to quit 

 my service ; he remained only till I could get another whipper-in. 

 I bred from Blazer and Jeopardy, being short of brood-bitches, 

 because the blood of each was good ; Jeopardy being somewhat 

 slack and slow upon the line, and Blazer as much too free. 

 Between two faults you occasionally meet perfection ; in this 

 instance numerical perfection was arrived at, in the shape of 

 the strength of the litter ; she had eighteen puppies, which was 

 the most I ever knew at one birth. By the aid of wet nurses 

 all these puppies were reared, but not one of them came into 

 use, either through distemper or want of figure ; and as this 

 often happens in litters of foxhounds, men may judge of the 

 value of a full-sized puppy over the distemper and passed for 

 the entry of the season. This reminds me of the trial at 

 Gloucestei-, whei-e a farmer was sued by Mr. Horlock, I think, 

 for having destroyed a fine foxhound puppy and buried it in 

 his mixen. The body of the puppy was afterwards exhumed 

 by the whipper-in ; and sworn to by the litter-mark on the ear. 

 The puppy was bred from a hound of the Duke of Beaufort's ; 

 and Bill Long and myself were called on to speak to the value 

 of a full-sized puppy so bred. When Long was asked what he 

 considered such a puppy to be worth, he said to the jury, " I'll 

 tell you, gentlemen : Sir William Codrington, he says to me, 

 says he. Bill, says he, old (I forget the name of the sire) is 

 worth a thousand pounds." 



" Stop," said the counsel ; " Mr. Long, we don't want to hear 

 what anybody else has said ; we want you to tell us of yom- own 

 knowledge, on your oath, what you think the puppy was worth." 



" Just so," said Bill Long ; " I was going to tell ye. We 

 were out one day, when Sir AVilliam Codrington, he say, says 



