224 The Sporting Dog 



into a quick point, head and stern up. In a 

 moment a rabbit jumped out. Mohawk held the 

 point. Avent came in sight, signalled the judges, 

 and called " Point ! " As the handler reached the 

 dog, another rabbit scudded away. Avent began 

 to grumble about the luck. The judges reached 

 the scene, the dog still immovable, and ordered 

 Avent to flush. He told them that the point 

 seemed to be on a rabbit. But he walked ahead 

 of the dog and flushed a bevy of quail. Here were 

 speed, nose, decision, intelligence, and stanchness. 



Everybody's dog does these things except when 

 witnesses are present. In public tests, however, 

 we must be satisfied with an occasional perform- 

 ance in which the whole combination of desir- 

 able field qualities is shown to a high degree; 

 and we are glad to have a few to treasure for 

 purposes of illustration. 



But the end of the whole matter is that every 

 amateur should have a dog to please himself. 

 Speaking for one kind of taste, I am not backward 

 in saying that, while I admire and appreciate 

 these extremely high-class performers when 

 owned by other men, my private favorite, even in 

 the West, would always be a good-looking and 

 stylish dog of medium speed, and not only bird 

 sense but intelligence and responsiveness in all 

 other respects. This is because I very much 

 admire quality and appearance, and because I am 



