114 ON THE FKONTIEB, 



dressed to the extreme of good taste and expense, she 

 was not called upon by the ladies of that frontier neigh- 

 bourhood. 



One evening I dropped into J. P.'s bank, just to look 

 at the play and tiy a new brand of cigars, of which my 

 opinion had been requested. Before leaving I was asked 

 by him : " Can you spare a thorough good bird-dog ? " I 

 told J. P. promptly, "Yes," and what the dog would do. 

 That at a whistle he would look round and obey the move 

 of the hand, ranging forward to the right or left, come to 

 heel, or down charge, as the signal might be given ; that 

 he quartered the ground with his head up, hunting by the 

 taint in the air, not the trail on the ground; that if the 

 birds took to running he would make a wide circuit, getting 

 them between him and the gun ; that he backed, dropped to 

 shot, and retrieved ; and that it would take seventy-five 

 dollars to buy him. 



Seventy-five dollars for a pointer was then and there an 

 awful price, so I wound up by saying : " I do not ask you 

 to take my say-so only for his perfection ; come down to my 

 little place, any time next week, stay over the following 

 day, and we will go and kill some birds to him, and you can 

 judge for yourself." I could do this, notwithstanding J. P. 

 was not invited where there were wives and sisters, because, 

 though, from knowing the helplessness of man, and to make 

 things pleasant about my home, I had secured that first 

 necessity to comfort, a good housekeeper, she did not hold 

 either of those relationships to me, so I could do as I pleased 

 in such matters. 



J. P. came down accordingly, and we passed a very 



