456 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



Nothing is more galling to a good sportsman than to 

 challenge him with an unsportsmanlike action, and yet 

 the mere fact that he encourages the pernicious habit 

 of reckless overtipping proves him to be careless of 

 the interests of his brother guns. Such being the case, 

 he is not a good sportsman. 



We have constantly heard the argument put thus : 

 " Surely the keeper of a good shoot should be tipped 

 higher than that of a moderate one. " Not of necessity. 

 The keeper of the moderate shoot may show his birds 

 better than that of the good shoot, if such a fact is 

 to be taken into consideration. The same argument 

 would apply in the case of a butler who gave us Chateau 

 Lafite, and another who was only able to supply us 

 with M^doc. " But," our friends reply, "in the case 

 of the big covert shoot, look at the enormous labour 

 involved." Are the guests, then, to be payers of 

 wages ? We reply, Certainly not. We give tips, not 

 as part of a man's salary, but in recognition of special 

 services rendered to us, or from desire to recognise the 

 marked efficiency of the keeper : and in the latter case 

 we give from our free will, and not in accordance with 

 any stereotyped tyranny a tyranny which found its 

 most obnoxious and altogether unbearable expression 

 in the case of a keeper who was seen to hold the 

 proffered tip in his hand, to regard it with a look which 

 combined curiosity with disdain, and then to hand it 

 back with the remark that it was not up to his standard. 



The following stories are vouched for as true, though 



