17 JULY 1909, Page 16

LTO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR"]

SIR,-I have an old dog who, in his prime, has fought many a gallant fight with wounded stags. The sight of my stalking- glass in my hand was a sufficient hint that I was bent on the sport be loved. On the bill, he used to watch the direction of my glass, and had a wonderful gift of seeing deer at long distances, and would draw my attention to them, and stalk them as carefully as I did. On one occasion we were after some stags which were out of sight about a thousand yards away. As we were crossing a narrow flat bit of ground a solitary young stag suddenly appeared from behind a hillock. I naturally sank flat, and anxiously watched Hector,' who at the moment was on the top of a tussock. He was rigid, with quivering nostrils. The " staggie," attracted by unwonted objects, manoeuvred to within twenty yards of us, and stood staring at us for at least ten minutes. 'Hector' did not even wink. At last, satisfied that we were inanimate and innocuous, the stag walked slowly away. As lie was disappearing, 'Hector' relaxed his muscles, turned his head towards me, wagged his tail, and smiled! Surely he had reasoned that the least motion on our part would have disturbed an unshootable beast who would have "moved" the deer we were after. His intelligence was rewarded by a successful stalk.—I am, Sir, &c., A DEERSTALKER.