23 JANUARY 1953, Page 19

Dog and Bone Watching a collie that had discovered a

wonderful scent on the road, I was reminded of a cocker spaniel I used to have. Nick was trained for the gun, as well as I knew how to train ,him, but he already had more skill and instinct for hunting than I could give him. He searched as the collie was searching, with his nose alone, and I was often able to imagine the drift of a scent on the breeze as I followed the move- ments of the dog and watched the object he would shortly discover and retrieve. The collie followed the scent, his forelegs spread and his stern high as he moved. The scent took him down the bank, and still he did not use his eyes, but at length he discovered the treasure, a meaty bone that had somehow found its way into the bottom of the hedge. The collie had not been following the scent on the air, but the reason for this seemed to be that the bone had been kicked or rolled along the road and then tumbled into the hedge, leaving a smear of fat as a trail. Once he had the prize, the collie's head went up, and he trotted away with the bone in his mouth, watchful, never- theless, for the appearance of any hound that might seek to rob him. I thought he thoroughly deserved to have his bone.