74 PINK AND SCARLET 



hint to him to jump, and he acts accordingly, much 

 to the discomfort and maybe to the danger of the 

 rider. 



A final word about gates. They should always 

 be shut. No man worthy of the name of sportsman 

 will neglect to shut gates behind him when there 

 are stock of any kind i,n the field, however fast 

 hounds may be running. Few things are so irri- 

 tating to the farmer, and therefore so bad for "the 

 cause," as having stock, and perhaps valuable 

 young horses, careering down the road, just because 

 some thoughtless or ignorant individual, having 

 opened a gate with difficulty, flings it back and 

 leaves it so. 



Stock and young horses will sometimes follow 

 horsemen crossing a field and make a desperate 

 charge for the gate when it is open. It is very 

 difficult to stop them, and the only sure way is to 

 shut the gate and drive them well away from it 

 before it is opened again. This will probably mean 

 loss of time, but what matter when put against 

 possible loss of the farmer's good-will, without 

 which hunting at all is impossible ? moreover, is not 

 this one small way of paying back the big debt that 

 all who hunt owe to those who own and occupy 

 land? 



We will now take cracking a whip. 



Regarding this the reader will probably say, 

 " What has this accomplishment got to do with 

 soldiering ? " Well, perhaps nothing ; but it has 



