82 
BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
arose, it was seen that one of them had acci¬ 
dently hit it. The big bird wasn’t hit very 
hard, however. It dropped in an opposite 
field which was separated from the one we 
were in by a particularly substantial wire 
fence, so closely woven that the dog could 
not get through. Over this fence the two 
shooters scurried like squirrels, each one 
claiming that he had hit the bird. I was 
amused as I watched them; and this amuse¬ 
ment only increased when they eventually 
turned back, very much crestfallen, after 
having roamed that field in all directions 
without being able to locate the pheasant 
which one or both of them had brought out 
of the air. 
All this time I had kept Byrd back with 
me, as I would not permit her to get over the 
fence into the field where those boobs were 
roaming wild. Finally, in desperation, they 
appealed to me and wanted to know why I 
hadn’t sent the dog over. I just waited pa¬ 
tiently until they realized beyond all doubt 
that the pheasant was unquestionably lost 
so far as they were concerned. Then I put 
Byrd over the fence, and it was beautiful to 
