68 THE GROUSE OF MAPLE BUN. 



away, he heard a roar that caused him to look back, and 

 there was the spirit, going like a streak, up the run. You t 

 should have heard Tom tell the story, and have seen the 

 weird look in his eyes as he described the scene. Always on 

 hand when sport was to be had, I readily joined him, as, un- 

 doubtedly, this was a wary old bird, that would show us some 

 fun. "We soon arrived at the place where he had seen her last, and 

 commenced a chase, the like of which I never expect to see again. 

 We little thought, when we started the dogs, that beautiful 

 morning, and gaily followed them, so full of life and hope, 

 our exuberant spirits welling forth in lively joke and quick 

 repartee, that evening's shade would find us a weary, used- 

 up pair, wending our way homeward with halting step3, and 

 no word of cheer to lighten the path. I will not anticipate, 

 but try and be calm while I recount the story of our sorrows. 

 Our dogs, Start and Stop, soon found a trail, and taking our 

 usual places — Tom on their right flank and I on the left — we 

 slowly moved on, up the run. The scent soon became hot, 

 and the dogs refused to advance another step. We went 

 ahead to raise the bird, and had gone some distance beyond 

 the dogs, when, with a thunderous roar close to my ears, 

 this spook of a bird rose behind me. I whirled around and 

 catching my foot in something, down I went full length, and 

 as it is my practice to shoot when a bird rises near enough, 

 my gun went off just as I struck the ground, happily without 

 doing any damage. "First knock-down for the spectre," 

 cried Tom, who appeared to enjoy the sport even more than 

 I did. As he had caught a glimpse of the bird, and was 

 sure that it was the one we were looking for, we turned short 

 to the left and followed on her course, which led toward the 

 upper corner of the cover. The dogs soon struck her trail 

 and worked it up nearly to the corner, and came to a full 

 stop. Tom, being the nearest, went on the outside, and I 

 walked toward him, expecting of course that one of us 

 would get a sure shot. I could not raise the bird, and went 

 back to the dogs, and at the word, they moved on up to the 

 wall, and came to a point at a hole that led through to the 

 other side. I got them over the wall, and they roaded 



