58 BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
than the future welfare of the dog. Try not 
to yield to this temptation and you will be 
repaid later on many times over. 
Only Ray Vance went with me on this 
trip and we drove over into our neighbor 
state with the eager little dog between us. 
Our hearts were anxious and our ambitions 
high. Would she rise to the occasion, as we 
both so ardently hoped? Of course Old Ned 
went with us, too, to be her example in this, 
her first real hunt, as he had been through 
all the days of preliminary education. 
The little Setter seemed to sense the 
situation—seemed to realize that this day 
would be vastly different from the un¬ 
certain play days of the weeks just 
passed. It wasn't long before Ned made 
a beautiful stand and down the field 
behind him came Byrd, eager and intent 
upon finding game, having by this time 
come to take a great deal of interest in 
her field work—and then all of a sudden she 
saw the splendid liver and white Pointer 
frozen fast on his find. My heart stood still 
as I watched her—then the blood raced 
through my veins and I tingled with a rare 
