HUNTING 
59 
delight—for she actually stood! She backed 
her pal, the Pointer, the minute she caught 
sight of him. Stanch as a little red statue 
she honored the point of the older dog. We 
flushed the birds but I was too intent on the 
dogs to remember to shoot. Ray, however, 
made a beautiful double. He is an excellent 
shot. 
This, then, was the occasion of Byrd’s first 
real experience in actually handling game. 
Ned retrieved one of the birds Ray killed, 
but I wanted to see what Byrd would do, so 
Ray then held the older dog while I went 
ahead with Byrd to where the other quail 
had fallen. Suddenly I saw that she was ac¬ 
tually pointing herself! A moment she stood 
thus, and then the little nose slipped forward 
and she reached into the grass and picked 
up the dead quail. Then, wonder of won¬ 
ders, she turned and brought it to me before 
I even remembered to say “Fetch.” I threw 
my arms about her and praised her with 
every possible evidence of my enthusiasm so 
that she might understand it as a reward for 
her work well done. In the twinkling of an 
eye she had come into her own. She was 
