230 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



wet are apt to make cold feet ; but this is entirely a 

 matter of taste. 



As each " gentleman " is told off to his beat by 

 his host, this is the time, stalker, young or old, to be 

 observant. Make certain you have got your " gentle- 

 man's" rifle and cartridges. I have known the discovery 

 made when nearing the end of a stalk that "the bullets" 

 had been left behind. If you are to take the hill with 

 a sportsman you have been out with before, you have 

 little to learn ; but if he is a newcomer, you must try 

 and find out for yourself, unobserved, what he is made 

 of before getting him up to deer. In all probability 

 you will have a mile or two to walk up the valley or 

 up the hill before you come to the first spying-ground. 

 As a rule, your " gentleman " will walk with and talk 

 to you, and now is your chance ; he may be an old 

 shikari and know every card of the game, and be able 

 to walk as well as, perhaps better than, yourself, and 

 may be able to teach you a wrinkle or two ; but this 

 you will not be long in finding out, and vice versa. 



Should your " gentleman " be elderly, or you find 

 that he is not a good walker, you must at once suit 

 your step to his pace as much as possible, for many 

 a good day has been marred and many a good stag 

 missed by young stalkers not keeping this fact particu- 

 larly in mind. They bring their " gentleman" up to 

 shooting distance faultlessly, having made a magnifi- 

 cent stalk in treacherous wind over most difficult ground. 

 But too fast ! too fast ! they have never turned to look 



