UPLAND SHOOTING. 187 



among them you fancy that you have seen an indistinct some- 

 thing faUing helplessly earthward — that you have heard the 

 thud of his tumble on the moist ground. Nevertheless, anxious 

 although you be, and doubtful of your own success, you stir 

 not from the spot. At the report of the gun, your dog couch- 

 ed instantly ; you can scarcely see him, so closely has he charged 

 among the watei'-grass, with his nose ])ressed into the very., 

 earth between his paws. 



You drop your butt upon tho toe of your boot, if the ground 

 be very wet, and begin to load, rapidly, yet coolly and delibe- 

 rately. Yes ! you have killetl him ; you may see the feathers 

 floating yonder, in the still murky air of the windless swamp. 

 You half-cock your locks, and apply the caps ; and, expectant 

 of the coming order, " Don" lifts his nose wistfully. " Hold up, 

 seek dead !" and carefully, gingerly, as if he were treading up- 

 on eggs, knowing as well as you do that the bird is dead, and 

 knowing pretty well where he is, at a slow trot, moving his 

 nose from this side to that, snuffing the tainted air, and whip- 

 ping his flanks with his feathered stern, he draws onward at a 

 slow trot. Now he has caught the scent, he straightens his 

 neck, quickens his pace a little, decidedly and boldly, and 

 stands firm. " Good dog : Fetch." He stoops, picks up the 

 dead bird, by the tip of the wing only, and brings him to you 

 without ruffling a feather. How conscious, how happy, how 

 perfectly aware that he has merited your approbation, that you 

 have both played your parts handsomely, as he hands you the 

 trophy. 



Let him snuffle at it, for a moment, if he likes it ; he would 

 not touch it with a tooth, for a dog kingdom ; but the scent is 

 to him what the aroma of a glass of Lynch's Chateau Margaux 

 of '25 is to you, — let him enjoy it, he shall not seiTe you the 

 worse, for that he looks for his reward. 



Here, gentle reader, is what thou art expected to do on oc- 

 casion. Do it thus, always, and thou art a good sportsman, 

 and a crack shot, not a doubt of it. Do it thus, very often in 

 one day, and thou art having a right good day's sport of it ; 



