110 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



the dog. He told me candidly, that he be- 

 lieved the mother to have been stolen, as 

 she had strayed from the servant of an 

 English gentleman, on the road from 

 Boulogne ; that she was in pup at the 

 time ; and that the animal before me was 

 one of the litter. 



We shot together for a short time, 

 during which I was so taken with the 

 young lady's performances, that I was 

 induced to ask if he would part with her. 

 He said he was not in want of money, 

 but that if I would give him the dog I 

 had with me, he would willingly exchange 

 animals. Now it so happened that the 

 chien de chasse by which I was accom- 

 panied was a wooden-legged, pottering 

 brute I had upon trial from my friend 

 Isidore Lefort, the dog-breaker at Abbe- 

 ville. 



Far be it from me to pronounce upon 

 the " race" to which he belonged, but I 



