Jclv 7, 1831.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



457 



N. 



about thirty yards. Sam fired at the eauie time and killed his bird, 

 and as they dropped up gat at least half a dozen, one of which he 

 laid out with his other barrel. My dog had by this time become 

 completely demoralized. The rapid firing, the flushing of so many 

 large birds and the fluttering of the four on the ground was too 

 much for him, and he made a desperate break for the nearest one; 

 but he stopped when he got to the end of the check-cord, for his 

 own momentum, aided by a smart " yank " on the cord, caused 

 him to turn a complete somersault, Ho quickly regained his feet, 

 a very much astonished and disgusted dog. "Down, charge, you 

 ■villain !" I yelled, with a suggestive motion of the rope, at which 

 he dropped in good shape. 



- " Come, come, hurry up and load, and don't be all day about 

 it," exclaimed Sim, as he dosed his gun after changing the empty 

 Bhella for loaded ones. My gun was quickly loaded, and, still 

 keeping hold of the check-cord, I gave a sharp "cluck" which 

 brought my dog to hie feet. " Now, steady, you villain— dead 

 birds." He started on carefully, and had got about half way to 

 where the nearest one was lying, when he pointed beautifully, 

 " That's good," cried Sam, " bnt look at old Spot." There he 

 stood, about ten paces ahead of Sam, his body and limbs as stiff 

 as a stake, his head blowly moving from right to left and and his 

 eyes glaring like a demon's. "He has got two birds there, and 

 don't know which is the best one," said Sam. "Egad ! Doc, what 

 wouldn't you give for a stereescopie view of this scene?" "Hang 

 your view," I said ; "let's stir 'em up, or I shall have the buck 

 ague so I can't hit a flock of barns." " All right ; then go ahead 

 and 'tend to your own dog and I will to mine." I had taken but a 

 few steps toward my dog, when up got three birds.; one started 

 off to the right, and the other two, dying close together, turned a. 

 little to the left. I sont the right barrel after the Burgle bird and 

 misBed him clean, but turned on the two others, which had by this 

 time got off about thirty yards; and were almost in a lin» j got a 

 good sight, let drive, and knocked them both down. As I fired 

 my last barrel the birds that. Spot was pointing both flushed, and 

 Bam brought them both down with a beautiful double shot, but at 

 the last report the rest of the covey arose, flew about two hundred 

 yards, and again settled. My dog in the meantime had learned 

 wisdom from experience, and remained quiet. "There, thank 

 Heaven!" I exclaimed, " they are gone, and now we can gather 

 up the dead birds and start again." They were quickly brought 

 in by the dogs, both behaving splendidly. The birds, eight nice, 

 large, plump beautioB were deposited in Master Willie's sack, and 

 he dispatched to the house with them with directions to saddle his 

 pony and take his game-sack and come on after us. This game- 

 Back, by the way, was an invention of Sam's. It consisted of an 

 ordinary seamless two-bushel bag with the mouth sewed up and 

 two openings, one on each side of the centre largo enough to tako 

 in a chicken or duck. It could be thrown across a horse either 

 before or behind the saddle, and thus made two large pockets that 

 would hold all the birds that any party ought to kill in one day, 



"Tako the rope off your dog," said Sam ; " he behaves all right 

 now." "No, I thank you, not just yet," I replied; "I am not 

 going to have you cussing me because my dog scarod off your 

 game. After another time or two he will get sobered down, find 

 out what they are, and then he will be all right." Thankful 

 enough I was that I did not take his advice, and that, too, within 

 the next five minutes. While we had been busy with our first 

 brood we had also marked down several packs that had come into 

 the stubble to feed, and we now started the dogs m the direction 

 of the nearest one. We had gone but a short distance when Leo 

 suddenly stopped, half pointed, drew back a little, andcommenced 

 barking furiously, at the same time I heard the sharp singing of a 

 rattlesnake. "Look out for your dog; call him back," yelled Sam, 

 "it is a cussed snake." Darting forward and at the same time 

 yelling to the dog to come in I caught hold of the check-cord, and 

 — well — perhaps that dog did not come away from that snake 

 quick ! Making both dogs come to heel we advanced cautiously to 

 where he was, and we saw, not one, but two of the, horrid reptiles 

 coiled about two feet apart, ana they were making their tails go 

 lively. A sharp right and left from Sam's heavy Colt tore their 

 heads into shreds, and calling the dogs away we left them there. 



" That's the way to servo those fellows," coolly remarked Sam 

 as he put in a couple of new shells, "I never consider a charge of 

 shot wasted w r hen put into a suake, hawk, or cat. Hie on, dogs," 

 Away we went once more checking them with a sharp note of the 

 whistle if they showed any inclination to range too far, and mo- 

 tioning them to right and left they quartered the ground beauti- 

 fully until near where we had marked down a brood they both 

 stopped, turned their heads in the direction we were working, 

 drew on slowly for a few steps, and tl^en pointed beautifully. 

 . Side by side they stood, not over four feet apart, as rigid as iron. 

 It was a fine sight, and one to stir the blood in the veins of any 

 one who loves the dog and gun. 



"You look out for your dog, Doc," said Sam; "don't let him g«t 

 crazy, and I'll put them up." Stepping carefully up behind to 

 within twenty feet of my dog I stood upon the trailing cord to 

 hold him if' he should start, and nodded to Sam that I was ready. 



"You takB the first ones that get np," he said, as he advanced to 

 the side of his dog. In an instant up started one, and was making 

 off, when, taking a quick aim full at it, I tumbled it over just as 

 another got up. Waiting until he had got over a short distance I 

 fired and brought him down. Then another arose and another, 

 then two at a time, then a single one, and so on until as many as 

 twenty had been flushed. In the meantime we were not idle, Sam 

 brought two down, and we both loading while they were getting 

 up and leavnng, bnt the last three that started off we knocked over. 

 I had one barrel loaded, and was standing there waiting for an- 

 other one to start, but they had all gone. Just then something de- 

 scended like a shot, and pounced upon one of the chickens we had 

 killed. It was a large hawk. He seized the bird and 

 was raising slowly and laboriously with it, when an ounce and a 

 quarter of No. 8, sent by a good charge of powder, 

 made the pirate, forget all about being hungry. "Good on your 

 head, old man," said Sam, heartily, " he won't catch a.ny more 

 buds. Golley ! that was lively work ; and another thing, you cau 

 takethatrope off from your dog, or yon can get off my farm, for I'll 

 be cussed if a dog that does as well as he is doing 'shall he dis- 

 graced by dragging around a ball and chain." Neither dog, during 

 all this hubbub, had moved, so, nothing loth, I untied the rope. 

 and put it in my pocket, and with a " Careful, sir ; dead birds." 

 sont him on. The dogs brought in the chickens, leaving the hawk 

 where he fell, and after stowing them away in the pockets of our 

 canvas coats, we started ou again, and so the Bport went on. We 

 were soon in the midst of another brood, of which we rendered a 

 good account The dogs both behaved splendidly, and by the 

 time Master Willie came back our pockets were full and we were 

 glad to unload, transferring our game to the sack. We went at it 

 again, and the sport was grand until about nine o'clock, when the 

 chickens had done feeding, and nearly all had left the stubble 

 fields. Wc sat down in the shade of a. largo Cottonwood that 

 grew beside a spring of clear, cold water, and after quenching our 

 thirst we had a smoke, and then started for the house, where we 

 arrived in time to change our clothes and have a wash before we 

 were called to dinner. Then that dinner ! How shall I describe 

 it better than to say I hope for many more like it. When we 

 could eat no more, and the pipes lighted, wc counted our bag and 

 found that besides those that the boy took to the houie for dinner, 

 wc had thirty-seven as nice birds as one could wish to look at. 



"Do you want to hunt this afteruoon ?" inquired Sam, as we 

 finished counting our game. "What's the use ?" I said. "We 

 have got all the birds now we oan take care of before they will 

 Bpoil. I had rather come out some other day and finish up the. 

 hunt, and besides, I ought to be back at the office." 



"My sentiments exactly," remarked my friend ; so when the 

 ashes were knocked from our pipes we packed away my traps, gun 

 and dog, and a score of chickeus, and started for town, where we 

 the worse for my first chicken hunt. 

 Hematite. 



ana uog, ana a score oi ex 

 arrived in about an hour n 



TIMOTHY D. GLADSON. 



New York, June 24. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I regret to announce to you the death, on the 22d irist, , of Tim- 

 othy D. Gladson, of Boonton, N. J., long and widely known as a 

 breaker and trainer of sporting dogs. Mr. Gladson went South 

 last fall, with his dogs, and contracted one of those malarious 

 swamp fevers so prevalent to that section, returning only in the 

 early spring, when entirely broken down in health and constitution, 

 to meet his untimely end. 



Without sn unkind or derogatory word of any other professional 

 in the same line, Mr. Gladson, without doubt, stood at the head of 

 the list as a breaker and trainer, accomplishing in more than one 

 or two instances what has always been considered impossible, and 

 even now is looked upon as skeptical by many. Some years ago, 

 when Col. Skinner was on the editorial sporting staff of this city, 

 Mr. Gladson expressed to him his belief in his ability to break and 

 train any dog that had the nose to smell a bird, and to begin his 

 labors he advertised for the most worthless and spoiled dog, one 

 that had been given up as incurable, as well as known in sporting 

 circles to be such. The gentleman to whom this matter was re- 

 ferred selected a Gordon setter from Huntington, L. I., which waB 

 said to fill the bill for worthlessness. Within three months from the 

 date of his reception, Mr. Gladson and the writer shot for several 

 days in succession, ovor this same dog, an average of sixty quail 

 per day. The result was therefore pronounced an entire success, 

 since which time, the same thing has been repeated several times 

 Mr. G.'s method of training and breaking was one peculiar to 

 himself, and dies with him, much to the regret of the sporting 

 community. He leaves a wife and son, the latter a cadet engineer 

 in the TJ. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. New Jersey. 



Middleboro, Mass. Sire, Harvard Kennel Club's Dash HI. Dam, 

 Dr.Hatheway'e Opal. (Bake-Fanny.) V. H. 0. in Native Setter 

 ClasB. at New York Show, 1881." Two and one-half years old. 

 Weight, sixty pounds. 



. .». 



COCKEK SPANIELS. 



[Reprinted from vero Shaw's "Book of the Dog," lumlShed to tlio 

 Forest amp Stheam by the author, tiiroiigh the courtesy of 

 Cassell, Petter, Ci;ilp,'ni <.'o., publishers. \u. ;:..? li roadway, New 

 York.] 



THESE engaging members of tho spaniel family are almost ex- 

 tiuct as regards purity, but their working capacity has never 

 failed them. As will be seen from Mr. Langdale's remarks, there 

 is more than one family of the breed which haa practically beau 

 lost sight of. A breed of black or biack-and-tan cockers certainly 

 existed, and has been perpetuated down to recent years, proof of 

 which cau be found in the pedigrees which accompany this article. 

 In the first instance we give that of Dr. W. W. Boultou's Regent, 

 which iB as followB : 



.Prmvthorpc's (Purdett' 

 nob. ( Dask. 



BLTJE DAN.-^We give this week an excellent portrait, of Blue 

 Dan. a blue Belton, owned and bred by N. D. Hatheway, M, D., 



Mr. A. W. Langdale, who has long been an admirer of these 

 valuable little dogs, has sent us the following for publication ; 



"This breed of spaniel is closely ailiod with Wales and Devon- 

 shire, and, 1 believe, more used in those parts than anywhere else. 

 It is indeed rare, even in the adjoining country, to find cocker 

 spaniels, but few people being apparently aware of their great 

 value. Smaller than their brethren the springers, they work iu a 

 totally different style ; and in a hedgerow, or copse, with a very 



