PRINCETON 103 



them in the smoke, following each discharge and 

 barking with joy and excitement. 



During the time I was in Florida, I encouraged 

 Grouse to become an aid to me in bird-collect- 

 ing; and while he was more than an ordinary 

 good dog on game-birds, he soon became very 

 expert in retrieving small birds killed in the 

 grass. He also learned to point the nests of 

 small birds on the ground or in bushes, or even 

 when not too high in the trees. 



Dog stories are proverbial ; but before leaving 

 Grouse for the time, I cannot but refer to his 

 keenness of smell. I have frequently thrown as 

 far as I could, and at random into a grass field, 

 a bunch of keys or a coin, and he would always 

 find and retrieve them without difficulty. I have 

 done this when he was not with me, and brought 

 him to the place an hour afterward, or even the 

 next day, told him what I wanted him to do, and 

 in less time than it takes to recount it, he would 

 accomplish the end. Grouse was much esteemed 

 for his many fine qualities. His progeny were in 

 great demand. While his offspring were, as a 

 matter of fact, few in number, all the owners of 

 younger dogs in Princeton, that might by a possi- 

 bility be called red setters, claimed descent for them 

 from this great dog. This breed is still extant. 



That Grouse was a general favorite, the follow- 

 ing episode reveals. One spring day we noticed 



