64 
Beagles and Beagling 
crossed the creek, thus he got over the water and 
into the cornfield beyond. It was while attending 
the Buckeye Beagle trials, in 1921, that a number of 
us saw a similar performance during the running 
of an exciting heat. We often hear the expression, 
‘‘about as much brains as a rabbit,” but if this is 
not exercising extraordinary intelligence, I would 
not know what it might be called. Both dogs came 
down the fence line at a furious gait and when they 
arrived at the fence, down by the water's edge, they 
were both baffled. We waited, for we wished to see 
if they could puzzle it out by themselves. They 
went up and down the fence line. Belle making wide 
circling casts and Bill was doing likewise. They 
were clearly at sea, but they did not give up. Then, 
perhaps it was luck or intuition. Bill jumped the 
creek and began searching on the other side. Sud¬ 
denly he opened with a long, loud bawl. Belle 
almost literally leaped from the top of the hill to 
the other side of the creek in her anxiety to join 
her mate. Bill picked the trail and while this drive 
was not so fast, and little of it was in sight, we 
had the full benefit of the music. Once Belle’s voice 
rose above Bill’s and then the latter took the initia¬ 
tive. O11 several occasions there was silence as the 
dogs came to a check, but we could hear the voices 
as they picked the line and thus we were enabled 
to follow the drive even though we remained on 
our side of the creek. 
“Let’s wait right here," I suggested, and Charlie 
acquiesced, for he knew Bunny would double back 
to almost the same place and perhaps repeat his 
performance of crossing the creek on the fence rail. 
