A Sly Couple
A gentleman in the county of Stirling kept a greyhound and a pointer, and
being fond of coursing, the pointer was accustomed to find the hares, and
the greyhound to catch them. When the season was over, it was found that
the dogs were in the habit of going out by themselves, and killing hares
for their own amusement. To prevent this, a large iron ring was fastened
to the pointer's neck by a leather collar, and hung down so as to pr
the dog from running, or jumping over dykes, &c. The animals, however,
continued to stroll out to the fields together; and one day the gentleman,
suspecting that all was not right, resolved to watch them, and to his
surprise, found that the moment when they thought that they were
unobserved, the greyhound took up the iron ring in his mouth, and carrying
it, they set off to the hills, and began to search for hares as usual.
They were followed, and it was observed, that whenever the pointer scented
the hare, the ring was dropped, and the greyhound stood ready to pounce
upon poor puss the moment the other drove her from her form, but that he
uniformly returned to assist his companion after he had caught his prey.
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