will be no
howling, as the pups know very well that they have transgressed, and
will show it on the way home by answering promptly when they are called.
Pups must be punished only when they are caught in the act of
disobedience; but a sin of yesterday must never be punished to-day;
because foxhounds, like all dogs, have a keen sense of justice, and only
understand the meaning of punishment when it is timely administered. All
attempts at hunting on their own account should be rigorously repressed,
and the personal dignity of the house cats should be upheld. Even when
the hounds are accorded the special favour of entering the house, our
pussies must be no more disturbed by them than they would be by our
house dogs who sleep near the fireside with them. I like to encourage
hounds to visit me occasionally in the house, as then they are, so to
speak, on their honour, and they so much appreciate these visits that
they lie peacefully near the fire with the cats in perfect friendship,
after having carefully examined, without touching, everything in the
room. They may look and smell, but not touch, and as bad behaviour in
this respect means instant ejection, they soon become like visitors to a
museum. The worst about puppy walking is that one has to part with these
delightful companions, and that parting is a time of sorrow which we
feel almost as keenly as if they were our children leaving home for the
first time with all life's troubles before them.

CHAPTER XIX.

KINDNESS TO HORSES.

A great deal has been said and written about bad-tempered horses, but
hardly enough anent the riders who make them sulky or irritable.
Jorrocks' remark that "the less a man knows about an 'oss, the more he
expects" is perfectly true; for such persons seem to regard horses as
machines, and are ever ready to slash them with the whip across the
head, or any other part on which they think they can inflict most pain,
and then when animals resent such cruelty, they dub them bad-tempered
brutes! There are people belonging to the show-off brigade, who punish
horses without the slightest provocation, in order to attract general
attention to their fine (?) horsemanship. Their method is first to job
the animal in the mouth, and when he exhibits the resulting signs of
irritated surprise, to "lamb" him well. Another kind of horse-spoiler is
the man who, having been angered by some person, vents his pent-up rage
on his unfortunate mount. Far be it f