220 The Spoding Dog 



right, which evidently meant that some one saw 

 the dog in that direction. I turned my horse 

 and rode into the corn. Gilchrist, Ben's handler, 

 came running along to take care of his dog. 

 While going rapidly through the corn, Ben 

 stopped on a stylish point. Two birds got up. 

 In puppy fashion he made a jump or two in 

 their direction, but quickly changed his mind 

 and stopped on another stiff point. The rest of 

 the birds soon after flushed in front of him. 

 Some outsiders thought that Ben had flushed 

 the first two birds either wilfully or from an error 

 in judgment in getting too close to them. As a 

 matter of fact, the birds flushed wild on account 

 of the absence of cover. The dog really made 

 a perfect exhibition. Fifteen minutes afterward 

 Marse Ben did almost identically the same thing 

 in another patch of corn. The birds flushed 

 ahead of him, but after he had established his 

 point. Just after the judges ordered the dogs 

 up, Rodney imitated the performance, jumping 

 quickly into a stanch point on a bevy in a corn- 

 field almost as bare of under cover as if it had 

 been ploughed. One would have to see the pace 

 at which these dogs were going and the bareness 

 of the corn-fields to appreciate the keen noses and 

 cleverness with which they established point on 

 body scent. 



If there be an absolute best, field trial history 



