EXPLOITS OF A ROMAN DOG. 105 



grieved when he died. Papa, if you will give me 

 leave, I will repeat a sweet story of a dog, that I 

 read this morning, in the book you lent me." Mr. 

 Palmer nodded approbation ; and Laura, with gi-eat 

 diffidence, gave us the following account : — " In dig- 

 ging up the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 

 which were overwhelmed by the lava thrown up in 

 an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the skeleton of a 

 dog was found, stretched over that of a child ten or 

 twelve years of age. It was conjectured, by those 

 who superintended the workmen, that this dog, from 

 his position, was attempting to save his young master 

 at the moment of the dreadful catastrophe that de- 

 stroyed the city. This opinion was confirmed by the 

 discovery of a collar of curious workmanship, that is 

 preserved in the gallery of the Grand Duke of Tus- 

 cany, upon which was inscribed a history of this 

 dog, in Greek. From the inscription, it appears 

 that this dog, whose name was Delta, belonged to a 

 man called Severinus, whose life he had saved on 

 three different occasions : first, by dragging him out 

 of the sea, when nearly drowned ; again, by driving 

 off four robbers who attacked him unawares; and, 

 the third time, by destroying a she-wolf, which was 

 near tearing Severinus in pieces, on account of his 

 having taken her cubs from her, in a grove sacred to 

 Diana, near Herculaneum. After these exploits. 



