44 ALL ABOUT DOGS 



sensible. One of them, * old Jesse,' a chance dog I 

 had of Mr. Meir, for Snipe shooting, was a fine ex- 

 ample indeed. As his pedigree was not ascertained, he 

 was not used for breeding purposes, but was a fine 

 specimen of some Yorkshire strain, large size, and 

 liver and white in colour. If I missed him in driving 

 off to my Snipe grounds, he would track my pony and 

 gig like a sleuth hound, and many a time have I found 

 him close behind my wheels, when I have, for miles, 

 looked back for him in vain. One bright winter morn- 

 ing I sat on a gate waiting for one Capt. Hull, my com- 

 panion, and looking up a long stretch of road, I ob- 

 served ' old Jesse ' coming along with a young dog of 

 mine which he had evidently invited to join in the fun, 

 and so I let the young dog work on Snipe, a game he 

 was never on before. It was a sight to see how ' old 

 Jesse ' tried to teach him the trade. I had two pieces 

 of Snipe bog two miles apart, and one bad scenting 

 day he missed my track and went to the wrong place, 

 so that it was past one o'clock when I reached the place 

 to which he had gone. On getting there, which I gen- 

 erally shot first, I saw ' old Jesse ' standing stiffly on a 

 Snipe. How long he had been ' pointing ' I cannot 

 say. Frequently, as I walked up to his point, I have 

 flushed Snipe, and shot them, before I reached him, but 

 this made no difference to him, nor did it in the least 

 interfere with his steadiness. Once, on the occasion I 

 have mentioned of his being accompanied by the young 

 dog, he snarled at the youngster for flushing a Jack 

 Snipe, and when he repeated the fault, went up and 

 worried him severely. As two of us shot together, he 



