CHAP. XIv.| SAGACITY OF A RETRIEVER. 109 
was in the room. One day, for some reason, I did not take 
him : in consequence of this, invariably when he heard usat night 
forming our plan to beat the woods, Rover started alone very 
early in the morning, and met us up there. He always went 
to the cottage. where we assembled, and sitting on a hillock 
in front of it, which commanded a view of the road by which 
we came, waited for us: when he saw us coming, he met us 
with a peculiar kind of grin on his face, expressing, as well as 
words could,-his half doubt of being well received, in conse- 
quence of his having come without permission: the moment he 
saw that I was not angry with him, he threw off all his affectatiox 
of shyness, and barked and jumped upon me with the most grate- 
ful delight. 
As he was very clever at finding deer, I often sent him with 
the beaters or hounds to assist, and he always plainly asked me on 
starting, whether he was to go with me to the pass, or to accom- 
pany the men. In the latter case, though a very exclusive dog 
in his company at other times, he would go with any one of the 
beaters, although a stranger to him, whom I told him to accom- 
pany, and he would look to that one man for orders as long as he 
was with him. I never lost a wounded roe when he was out, 
for once on the track he would stick to it, the whole day if 
necessary, not fatiguing himself uselessly, but quietly and de- 
terminedly following it up. Ifthe roe fell and he found it, he 
would return to me, and then lead me up to the animal, what- 
ever the distance might be. With red-deer he was also most 
useful. The first time that he saw me kill a deer he was very 
much surprised ; I was walking alone with him through some 
woods in Ross-shire, looking for woodcocks ; I had killed two or 
three, when I saw such recent signs of deer, that I drew the shot 
from one barrel, and replaced it with ball. I then continued my 
walk. Before I had gone far, a fine barren hind sprung out of 
a thicket, and as she crossed asmall hollow, going directly away 
from me, I fired at her, breaking her backbone with the bullet ; 
of course she dropped immediately, and Rover, who was a short 
- distance behind me, rushed forward in the direction of the shot, 
expecting to have to pick up a woodcock ; but on coming up to 
the hind, who was struggling on the ground, he ran round her 
with a look of astonishment. and then came back to me with an 
