24 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



escaping in a wounded condition to die in some 

 neighbouring county. He was also rightly in- 

 tolerant of persons who insisted upon being 

 accompanied by badly trained dogs — retrievers 

 who never retrieved, pointers who couldn't 

 point, setters that failed to set, or spaniels that 

 seemed constitutionally incapable of spanning. 



He himself set an admirable example in this 

 respect, being for many years the proud 

 possessor of a beautiful little cocker spaniel 

 named " Jet," not only an admirable sporting 

 dog but also gifted with those perfect table 

 manners which rendered it a most agreeable 

 household pet. 



" Jet " was Sir Noel's constant companion in 

 London as well as at The Grange, and the only 

 person who did not altogether appreciate its 

 presence was my dear aunt. Lady Biffin often 

 complained bitterly of the lavish way in which 

 " Jet's " master fed it at meals with bits of burnt 

 toast, cheese-rind, grape-skins, and similar un- 

 appetising fragments which, as she justly ob- 

 served, might well have been saved and given 

 to the deserving poor. 



In this connection I recall a rather curious 

 incident which, unimportant as it seemed at the 

 time, had far-reaching consequences, resulting in 

 the severance of a business connection that had 

 long existed between my uncle and one of our 



