120 A HUNDRED YEARS 



Suthainn after a tremendously exciting stalk with my 

 little three-pound gun and with the help of an Eley 

 cartridge duly charged with slugs ! 



No ordinary dog was of any use in the islands, as one 

 could not keep it in view for a moment among the Scots 

 firs and birches; but with Fan all that had to be done 

 on landing was to start her and sit comfortably on a 

 stone or stump and wait developments. She would not 

 be long before she came back to tell the story of her 

 discoveries. We used to fancy we could guess by her 

 face what kind of game she had found, and that she 

 put on a sort of apologetic expression when it was a 

 woodcock and not a grouse. She never wasted a 

 moment at her point, unless we were actually in sight 

 or she felt sure we were following at her heels. She 

 evidently argued that the only thing to be done was to 

 find us as quickly as possible, put on a solemn face, and 

 lead us carefully up to the game. Even black game 

 feeding on the birch seed in the tops of the trees did not 

 escape her, and back she would come to give us notice. 

 She seemed to know perfectly well if birds were wild 

 or not, and, if they were wild, she would sneak along, 

 keeping herself as low as possible, and thus giving 

 us the tip to do likewise; but, if she felt they would lie 

 close, she would go boldly up to them. If we had Fan 

 with us we never had to take a retriever. 



There are numerous lochs in this Gairloch district. 

 The grouse seem always to prefer the loch sides, and 

 when shot often fall into them, and not unfrequently 

 into the sea; but whether it was a duck or a snipe or a 

 grouse, distance was nothing to Fan if she saw it fall 



