38 NEIGHBORS WITH CLAWS AND HOOFS, 



great friend of dogs, and lie has written a. delightful sketch 

 of his pets, entitled u Rob and his Friends." He gives 

 this graphic account of his dog " Nipper " : " Many yeara 

 ago I got a proof of the unseen and therefore unhelped 

 miseries of the homeless dog. I was walking down Duke 

 Street, when I felt myself gently nipped in the leg. I 

 turned, and there was a ragged little terrier crouching and 

 abasing himself utterly, as if asking pardon for what he 

 had done. He then stood upon end, and begged as only 

 these coaxing little ruffians can. 



10. " Being in a hurry, I curtly praised his perform- 

 ance with * Good dog ! ' clapped his dirty sides, and, turn- 

 ing round, made down the hill ; when presently the same 

 nip perhaps a little nippier the same scene, only more 

 intense, the same begging and urgent motioning of his 

 short, shaggy paws. ' There's meaning in this,' said I to 

 myself, and looked at him keenly and differently. He 

 seemed to twig at once, and, with a shrill cry, was off 

 much faster than I could. He stopped every now and 

 then to see that I followed, and, by way of putting off the 

 time and urging me, got up on the aforesaid portion of 

 his body, and when I came up was off again. 



11. "This continued till, after going through sundry 

 streets and by-lanes, we came to a gate, under which my 

 short-legged friend disappeared. Of course, I couldn't 

 follow him. This astonished him greatly. He came out 

 to me, and as much as said, ' Why don't you come in ? ' I 

 tried to open it, but in vain. My friend vanished, and 

 was silent. I was leaving in despair and disgust, when I 

 heard his muffled, ecstatic yelp far off round the end of 

 the wall ; and there he was, wild with excitement. I fol- 

 lowed, and came to a place where, with a somewhat bur- 

 glarious ingenuity, I got myself squeezed into a deserted 

 coach-yard, lying all nude and waste. 



