MY DOGS AND OTHERS 263 



would not have happened unless he had been 

 poaching. Once when I had occasion to visit a 

 strange keeper, and he was showing me round his 

 premises, I saw a huge bundle of dog-collars enough, 

 I should say, to fill a half-bushel basket. I asked if 

 he had recently given up a large kennel of dogs. 

 ' No,' he said, * only I always takes the collar off 

 them as I shoots ; but there, most on 'em ain't got 

 ne'er 'n.' A boy brought me a dog that had been a 

 horrible nuisance to me for years, with a request 

 that I would shoot it. I happened to know that the 

 people who owned the dog were going away, and I 

 sent back a message with the dog that they might 

 have got rid of the dog long ago to oblige me, and 

 I certainly would not shoot it now to oblige them. 

 The most pathetic request in the dog-shooting line 

 came from an old shepherd who was past work. 

 He led his old dog on a chain to my cottage ; he 

 explained that he * couldn't abear to see the old 

 feller go shart o' vittals,' and asked me to ' take and 

 shoot un out o' the way.' I promised him that an 

 under-keeper should see to it. 



Coming across some sportsmen who were walking 

 for partridges, and had with them a good-looking 

 spaniel, I inquired how they were getting on. 

 ' Pretty well plenty of birds,' one of them replied ; 

 ' but the dog won't kill 'em after we've shot 'ern 

 down.' I hoped he would improve, and walked 

 quickly away. The funniest doggy incident I ever 



