As He Grew Older He Became Cunning, And He
Ran Entirely Mute, Knowing Well That The More Noise The Elk Heard Behind
Him The Faster He Would Run.
I have frequently known him to be out by
himself all night, and return the next morning blown out with food which
he had procured for himself by pulling down a doe single-handed.
When
he was a young dog, and gave tongue upon a scent, a challenge was
offered, but never accepted, that the dog should find, hunt, and pull
down two buck elk, single-handed, within a fortnight, assisted only by
his master, with no other weapon than a hunting-knife; there is no doubt
whatever that he would have performed it easily. He then belonged to
Lieutenant Pardoe, of the 15th Regiment.
He had several pitched battles with leopards, from which he has returned
frightfully torn, but with his yellow hair bristled up, his head and
stern erect; and his deep growl, with which he gave a dubious reception
to both man and beast, was on these occasions doubly threatening.
I never knew a dog that combined superlative valour with discretion in
the degree exhibited by Smut. I have seen many dogs who would rush
heedlessly upon a boar's tusks to certain destruction; but Smut would
never seize until the proper time arrived, and when the opportunity
offered he never lost it. This rendered him of great value in these wild
sports, where the dog and his master are mutually dependent upon each
other.
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