woods, they found
him, erect, motionless, tail straight out, a living, breathing statue in
white. They advanced side by side; the staccato of their shots rang out
in the amber air; out of whirling coveys birds tumbled. And always here
came old Prince to them, bird in mouth, ears thrown back, fine old eyes
aglow with a sportsman's joy.

Not even Prince himself had ever done more brilliant work. He didn't
know that every covey he found, every bird he retrieved, was setting a
price as it were on his head, dooming him in his old age to exile under
a strange master in a strange land. But Jim knew, watching with sinking
heart the admiration in Gordon's eyes.

They ate Mary's lunch on a log in the woods, sitting side by side in the
democracy of the out of doors. They talked about hunting and dogs. They
took turns tossing biscuit to hungry old Prince, who sat at a distance
like the gentleman he was, and who caught them skillfully, then lay down
to eat them, his tail dragging gratefully across the dead leaves.

At last they rose from the log. Old Prince sprang to his feet, ears
pricked, eyes shining. A wave of Jim's hand and he was off in his
strong, steady gallop to new conquests. Their shots rang out in other
fields and woods. The sun dropped closer to the horizon. The shadows
crept farther out into the fields and deeper into the spirit of Jim
Taylor.

It was early dusk when they stood in front of the stone gate posts of
the club, and Gordon spoke about it at last.

"Are you sure you want to sell him, Taylor?"

Jim swallowed. "That's what I come for, Mr. Gordon."

"Well, I think two hundred and fifty would be a fair price at his age."

"That's fair enough," said Jim.

"All right. Come in and we'll fix it up."

They went up the walk together in silence and around the club to the
kennels. Close to his master's heels trotted old Prince, tired now, eyes
turned longingly down the road toward his home and his fire.

"You can chain him there," said Gordon.

"Here?" asked Jim, for things seemed suddenly to be swimming around.

"Yes--to that kennel. That's it. Now we'll go inside."

Jim knew he was in the wide hall before the fire, that he was shaking
hands with two or three men Gordon introduced him to, that he was
upstairs in Gordon's room, that Gordon had counted out twenty-odd crisp
bills on the table. But all these things were confused and blurred in
his mind. For out there as he turned away old Prince had looked