GROUSE 197 



and a couple of them fall victims, while Rake 

 alas ! that I should say it more than once 

 points at a rabbit, but in a constrained attitude 

 and with glaring eyes, which gives me a pretty 

 good idea what he is after. We do not fire 

 at the rabbits, not merely for fear of spoiling 

 the dog, but also because if we killed all we 

 saw the bag would be difficult to carry, and 

 we are after nobler game. We are now coming 

 to the heather, and we might safely hunt the 

 younger dogs, but I cannot find it in my heart 

 to take Rake up until he has had a chance, 

 which comes quickly enough. A capital point, 

 and a nice rise of a good covey of nine ; this 

 time there is no mistake made, and two brace 

 are neatly killed one by each gun the young 

 birds well grown and feathered. Then we whistle 

 up the reserve dogs, and Rake is taken up for 

 the present a pair of white and tan pointers, 

 Juno and Diomede, quartering the ground in 

 front of them with clockwork regularity. 



So the morning goes on with varying fortune : 

 the sun is rather hot, the scent not first-rate, 

 and sometimes we go half -an -hour without a 

 shot ; but when we reach the wire fence by the 

 march of Craig-an-terrive, we find that another 

 sportsman has been on the ground. We pick 

 up two freshly killed grouse, and from the con- 

 dition of their heads it is easy to see that the 

 murder has been the work of a peregrine. Here 



