MY OLD DOG TRIM. 91 



urgently invited us to come again and to be sure and let him 

 know FO that he could go along and see the fan. 



After a few seasons Trim gained a wonderful knowledge 

 of the habits of the game he hunted, particularly his favor- 

 ite, the grouse. After he had taken two or three turns in 

 the cover he would almost unerringly, indicate by his man- 

 ner, the presence or abseccs of game. Did he put onTmore 

 steam, and hunt as though he expected to find game, you 

 could take your oath that birds were near, or had been re- 

 cently. Oa the other hand, did he slacken his pace, or ex- 

 p ess indifference, you might as well strike for some other 

 locality as he was rarely mistaken. I soon discovered that 

 he used his eyes as well as his nose, and, by closely watch- 

 ing him and profiting by his example, I soon became quite 

 an adept in finding "signs." Th3 faintest indication of birds, 

 where they had scratched among the leaves, the plainly-to- 

 be-seen wallow holes, where they had dusted themselves, a 

 stray feather, their droppings, or the partly eaten skunk cab- 

 bage were to him as an open book that he literally read as he 

 ran. Often have I seen him slow up and, glancing at the 

 ground, throw his head in my direction and give me an ex- 

 pressive glance, accompanied by just the faintest wag of the 

 end of his tail ; then off again, at increased speed, he would 

 seldom f lil to soon fiad more tangible proofs of the presence 

 of birds. Upon examining these places I would find unmis- 

 takable "jsigns," and soon learned to see them unaided by 

 him. It is but a few days since I caused an incredulous 

 smile to overspread the countenance of a friend, with whom 

 I was out shooting, by pronouncing the cover we were in to 

 be the home of a covey of grouse. We had gone scarcely 

 fifty yards, and he was saying that he had hunted this cover 

 for more than a dozen years and had never seen a grouse in 

 it, when the dog came to a point and we flushed a splendid 

 covey of ten or eleven birds, e ; ght of wh'ch accompanied us 

 home. It is a source of pleaaure to me, as well as a cause of 

 wonder to my sporting friends, that I am thus able to predict 

 the near presence of game. This is one souvenir, left me by old 

 Trim, that helps to keep him ever in grateful remembrance. 



