68 How I Became a Sportsman. 



dog. I went round to all the keepers I knew, 

 but they had nothing to part with ; there were 

 no sporting advertising papers in those days, 

 except ' Bell's Life,' and that was not at that 

 time much of a sportsman's paper for getting 

 what I wanted. The time got on to near the 

 first of September, and I was still without a 

 dog, when I came across a sporting farmer, 

 who was not going to shoot that season, and 

 would sell his dog. I went to see it, and 

 found a good-looking, liver-coloured setter 

 bitch, but she was very fat. The farmer said 

 she would work all day, but this I doubted 

 very much. However, on his assurance that 

 she was a real good one, I bought her for a 

 five-pound note, then considered a fair price 

 for a sporting dog. I gave her as much work, 

 and got her as fit as I could, in the short time 

 I had ; but when the eventful day arrived she 

 still had a load of flesh on her. 



The evening before the eventful day having 

 arrived, Isaac came up to take his last instruc- 

 tions, when I informed him I had a bit of 

 a surprise for him, and when I told him what 

 it was, he looked uncommonly chop-fallen for 

 a time ; but when I had argued it out with 



