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 
