his is a great
advantage, as although some few ladies possessing great strength of
nerve have taken up shooting as an amusement and pastime and acquit
themselves surprisingly well in this manly sport, yet ladies in general
are not inclined for so dangerous a game, and even those intrepid ladies
who have learnt how to use their little gun would never be permitted to
make one or two of a big shooting party, even were they so inclined.

The hostess and the ladies of the party invariably join the shooters at
luncheon, and some of the ladies go out with the shooters in the morning
to watch their prowess in the field; but this entails a great deal of
walking where partridge shooting is concerned, which is quite another
thing to covert shooting in November and December.

* * * * *

=A good hostess has great opportunities= for distinguishing herself when
entertaining a country-house party, from the arrival of the first
motor-car to the departure of the last. Her consideration and tact are
so successfully exerted that somehow her guests always find themselves
doing exactly what they like best and in company with those who are
most congenial to them, to say nothing of the comfort of the general
domestic arrangements, which seem to have been arranged exclusively for
their convenience. If they wish to drive, there is a carriage or
motor-car at their disposal; if they prefer a constitutional, there is
some one very agreeable desirous of walking with them. The daily papers
are always to be found, the post-bag goes out at a most convenient hour
by the hand of a special messenger, the dinner is of the best, and the
evening is of the cheeriest. Bridge as a rule is played in most houses,
and several tables are arranged in the drawing-room to accommodate the
would-be players.

Occasionally, when the birds are wild and sport is slack, a sort of
picnic luncheon is held in the vicinity of a keeper's lodge, under the
shade of some wide-spreading trees, when the ladies join the party; but
in September keen sportsmen rather despise this playing at shooting, and
resent the interruption caused by the company of ladies at luncheon, and
prefer to take it in the rough and smoke the while. Every day of the
week is not thus given up to shooting, and there are few owners of
manors who would care to provide five days' consecutive sport for their
guests, and two days' hard shooting is probably followed by what is
called