THE PINNATED GROUSE. 69 



that rose, the old mother of the covey, went 

 sailing away over a ravine, unshot at. As the 

 second pair of birds turned over in air, another 

 grouse rose from almost the same place as the 

 last one, followed by three more before it had 

 fairly cleared the grass. And two of these 

 wilted in mid-air as two more guns flamed in the 

 rear, while the other two birds with triumphant 

 beat of wing went away unscathed amid the up- 

 roar of two more barrels. 



Motionless and serene Prince stood amid the 

 racket, for that mysterious power of a dog's nose 

 that tells him whether all the birds have risen 

 told him that some yet remained hidden in the 

 spangled covert before him. And it was but a 

 moment more when Kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk went an- 

 other from a few feet before him, mounted the 

 sunlight in a curve of whizzing gray, sailed away 

 through the open timber, and settled on a ridge 



, some three hundred yajds away. 



i 



Yet Prince and Doc, the dog behind him, 

 stood like statues, and away flew another grouse 

 unshot at ; for every gun was now empty, with its 

 owner straining every nerve to get it loaded. 

 With the muzzle-loader has gone an interesting 



