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down the wind; in which quarter it is evident 

 that experience had taught him to look with 

 more of certainty to find, or towards which he 

 had, in any dubious case, been immediately led 

 off by his knowing director; and then come 

 crouching up, with no part of him but his head 

 visible, in a right line to meet you. This is so 

 fine a touch of intellect, that it is hard to think 

 of checking, and yet I can not commend it ; for 

 if he has not his compass with him, and mis- 

 takes the wind a little, the consequences are 

 obvious : and at best, inasmuch as his advance 

 upon you is by an eager crouch in a right line, 

 his final stop is seldom made to an actual find ; 

 but there you have him, with his nose stretched 

 out over the corner of that hill, fifty yards off 

 or more, most sagaciously useless, and the more 

 sagacious the more irremovable, looking with all 

 the eyes he has to see how very cleverly you are 

 able to make them out yourself. I do not know 

 a more mortifying situation than that in which 

 a man feels himself here left to his meditations, 

 with the infallible conviction, from a dependance 

 on the dog, of the actual presence of game 

 before him, in common prudence not daring to 

 move, urged every moment by the reflection 

 that they are creeping off in every direction, 

 and not knowing which way to turn himself for 

 a shot. And what is to be done ? Why, nothing 



