coverts, now still as a stone, till the grouse 

 discovers that so long as he is quiet the dog 

 seems paralyzed, unable to move or feel. 

 Then he draws himself up, braced against a ^g OfBeech 

 root or a tree boll; and there they stand, 'P&friaj^e 

 within twenty feet of each other, never stir- 

 ring, never winking, till the dog falls from 

 exhaustion at the strain, or breaks it by leap- 

 ing forward, or till the hunter's step on the 

 leaves fills the grouse with a new terror that 

 sends him rushing away through the October 

 woods to deeper solitudes. 



Once, at noon, I saw Old Ben, a famous 

 dog, draw to a perfect point. Just ahead, in 

 a tangle of brown brakes, I could see the 

 head and neck of a grouse watching the dog 

 keenly. Old Ben's master, to test the splen- 

 did training of his dog, proposed lunch on 

 the spot. We withdrew a little space and 

 ate deliberately, watching the bird and the 

 dog with an interest that grew keener and 

 keener as the meal progressed, while Old 

 Ben stood like a rock, and the grouse's eye 

 shone steadily out of the tangle of brakes. 

 Nor did either move so much as an eyelid 



