TIPS AND TIPPERS 273 
the proud mother of these twain called at the head- 
keeper’s cottage, sent in her servant for him, and 
held forth as follows : ‘ Brown, you have shown the 
‘young gentlemen much good sport. I wish to give 
you a useful present to mark our appreciation.’ It 
is well here to note that the good lady intended to 
brook no refusal, for she said ‘ give’ and not ‘ offer.’ 
She must also have intended to convey that, the 
present was the result of combined contributions, 
for she said ‘our,’ and not ‘my.’ The present turned 
out to be a money-box, in the form of an elephant 
with a slit in its back. You have seen the sort of 
thing—price sixpence-halfpenny, to be had even 
cheaper at sale-time. It was empty. The smallest 
tip I have known a keeper to receive was threepence 
—in coppers, not even new. The most original tip 
consisted of five threepenny-pieces, and came from 
a parson. It is said that the keeper, remembering 
that there were five Sundays in the month, remarked 
that they must be for the ‘ horfeetory.’ 
Occasionally I have found the taking of tips 
rather awkward, though, of course, never a matter 
of insuperable difficulty—for instance, when I have 
had a gun under each arm, and each hand already 
full of big silver coins. This is apt to occur when 
the guns approach in a mass, like driven partridges 
in a pack; when they come in a string it is easy to 
deal with any amount of tips without being rushed. 
There are three reasons why a keeper should unload 
18 
