364 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



"MTJSCATINE, IOWA, Nov.C, 1886. 



1 1 



Dear Sir: I presume you are always glad to hear of 

 the doings of the Chesapeake, so I write you a word or two 

 about the puppy Jack. 



4 'He is growing very fast and seems full of life and 

 health, and yet is as dignified and watchful as a Mastiff. 



" I took him out hunting, with a fine Setter bitch, a week 

 ago, not expecting to ask him to do any work, but only to 

 get used to the sound of a gun. He watched Nellie bring 

 out one or two ducks, and then we shot three mud-hens, 

 to try him. Nellie brought two, and Jack one. Then we 

 let one of the boys go down the lake and shoot mud-hens 

 at various points out of our sight. Making a circuit, we 

 came to the lake a mile below, and shot a mud-hen or 

 two to warm him up, and then walked up the bank of 

 the lake, which is full of water-lilies, etc. Now we 

 couldn't see the mud-hens killed by our companions, 

 and didn't know where to look for them, and Nellie made 

 no sign to get any of them; but Jack did not miss one, going 

 without a word of command sometimes fifty yards out into 

 the lake, and in one instance making three trips, and bring- 

 ing a bird each time. This may not be new to you, but I 

 must confess I have never heard of such work in a young 

 dog; and no one here has. 



" He seems to love the water, and will, from choice, break 

 the ice along shore to play in the water, his magnificent 

 coat being an absolute protection against cold or wet. 



"My children are perfectly delighted with him; my wife 

 'never saw so nice a dog,' and I well, I wouldn't look at 

 $100 of any man' s money in exchange for him. 



" He is watchful, plucky, and strong; embodies all I 

 could ask in a Mastiff or a Newfoundland, and has so many 

 other excellent qualities, that if he is a fair sample of the 

 breed (and I presume he is), I wonder that anyone would 

 prefer the breeds of single virtues to this ' omnibus ' dog. 

 When I ordered him I thought I was getting a good 

 retriever, but I find that, besides retrieving better than any 



