254 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



I had a Clumber bitch which I had trained to 

 retrieve feather only. I have seen a wounded hare 

 actually run over her, and have used her as a stop 

 in a ride between two guns at a rabbit shoot, with- 

 out her moving an inch. I took her away from 

 home to a shooting-party, walking up partridges. 

 When the keeper saw her he asked me if I had a 

 lead. I told him I had, but not with me. ' Because/ 

 he added, ' we shall find a nice few rabbits lying out.' 

 It was a treat to see that Clumber work. The 

 value of an anti-rabbit training was well proved, for 

 rabbits were sitting all over the place, especially in 

 the sanfoin fields, in which most of the partridges 

 were shot. Often while searching for a bird she 

 would start three or four rabbits. All the notice 

 she took of them was to pause for a second or so to 

 watch their fate. I lost her not many months after- 

 wards from distemper curiously enough, just when 

 I was congratulating myself on her miraculous 

 recovery. She had it first in the ordinary gastric 

 form, which developed into the pneumonic, and 

 there seemed no hope ; however, after a tremendous 

 struggle with death she pulled through the pneu- 

 monia. She got so well that, instead of my having 

 to pour down her throat a mixture of new-laid eggs, 

 milk, and port wine, she would eat hard dog-biscuits, 

 and on my approach would jump on to the top of 

 her kennel and wag her tail in the old way. Then, 

 to my intense surprise and grief, she suddenly was 



