YOUTHFUL ARDOUR AND VETERAN COOLNESS. 135 



for the present, and the remaining brace now 

 scoured the moor in all directions. For nearly 

 half a mile our beat lay across a boggy plain. 

 Here we sprung several snipes, which in my 

 youthful ardour I would gladly have shot, and 

 even felt strongly inclined to rate the well broken 

 dogs, as they put them up one after another with 

 as little compunction as if they had been larks : 

 but I was restrained by the conduct of my more 

 phlegmatic relative, who assured me that a snipe- 

 pointing dog was the worst companion that a 

 grouse shooter could be cursed with. Further 

 discussion on this subject was abruptly closed by 

 a signal from the keeper. Bob and Ranger were 

 down. The latter had found game, but being of 

 a deep red colour it was some time before I could 

 distinguish his head above the heather, while his 

 black and white coadjutor was distinctly visible, 

 although, like the former, he always lay down 

 to his birds. Presently a fine pack of grouse 

 rose within a fair distance for our four barrels. 

 How different from the puny poults of August ! 

 These were really grouse. Young birds, it is 

 true, and unable to bear the weight of their well 

 conditioned bodies when suspended by the lower 

 mandible without that portion of the beak giving 

 way ; but in perfect plumage and full growth. 

 We had now arrived at the foot of the mountain, 



