CAME TO THE END.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2677, 4 August 1913, Page 8

CAME TO THE END.

Dogs of the chase, especially the greyhound, are endowed with a wonderful amount of gam on ess and courage, qualities tliat indicate unwavering determiruiination never to flinch till the death 01 the prey. Now and again, no doubt, there may have been canines in which the self-preservative instinct might have suggested a halt, but the other qualities predominated at the crucial moment and swept tho chaser on to victory or defeat. Several wonderful duels between greyhounds and hares are known to the followers of coursing, says the New York Herald, but one of the most sensational happened a few years ago at a picturesque spot called Bourne-court. Both dog and hare were of exceptional strength, and their meeting was tho result of peculiar circumstances. Although they belonged to the same neighborhood, they met only once. It was tho first and last. A local sportsman named Roche owned tho dog, which possessed an odd sort of conformation as to his build, coat, and color. He had the framework of a greyhound, but his coat was shaggy like that of a wolfhound, and, stranger still, it bore the deep red Hugo of the Irish terrier. His owner said tho dog arrived with a litter of greyhounds, anti ho could offer no theory as to his inconsistent make-up. A giant in stature, standing some throe feet six inches high, he was renowned for speed, and also as a lighter. , , One (In’- a stout bulldog tackled Skolper, as Roche’s dog was named, and before the bulldog had time to think his two forelegs were broken by a giant wrench from tho greyhound. Alter that, dogs of every kind gave bkelper a wide berth, and he roamed around unmolested. No hare was over known to escape him, and it was in Ids method of killing that ho showed the greatest power. He would always wait for a ditch or a hedge, and then, with a prodigious bound, he would land on tho other side on top of tho hare. Local huntsmen frequently asked Roche to allow his dog to chase the hare, but ho always refused, and said that the hare was not “right,” by which he meant that she was some wandering ghost, and should not bo molested. Finally, against his better judgment, ho consented. A score of local dogs were entered for the contest along with Skolper. and tho chase began. When the dogs were released there was a wild scramble, and they tore away at a great dip. Skolper was not in front, nor did ho show prominently while the field was visible to the watchers on the hill. A little while longer and Iho dogs and hare were lost to sight. Then, after an anxious period, the weaker brigade began to return one after tho other. They were a woebegone lot, with their tails hanging at half-mast, and just about able to crawl. There was no trace ot the hare, and Skolper was still to be heard from. Maybe they both wore dead, some said, and gradually the watchers around tho moat and on tho hill thinned out, the majority heading toward the village in quest of refreshment. Day was about to give way to dusk, when there was a wild hullo from the hill, and the news that the hare with one leg close to her scut was seen heading toward the moat. Round and round the rath they flow, but Skclpor was too close for the hare to gain her cover, so in a last bold effort to shako off her pursuer she jumped on to tho roadway leading to the village. Up tin* street they flew ns the crowd on each side opened up a lane for thorn and stood spellbound by the spectacle. At tho top of tho main tboroughfqro a high wall encircled a field, and tho lia.ro mode straight for it. She flew it grandly, but {.lie last chance of the dog had come, and with one great spring ho landed on top of her. His iron jaws gripped her spine, and with a mighty shake lie nearly made two out of tho quivering "body. Ho throw her away from him. then caught her, shook her savagely again, and laying Ivor on the grass, watched her till she kicked her last. Then he raised bis head, gave a low whine, and foil across her body—dead.