A dog is just as quick as a child to find out when 



he can take liberties ; he knows that laughter and 



serious disapproval do not go together ; and Jock-| 



with the backing of the boys thoroughly enjoyed him- * 



self. That was how it began ; and by degrees it 



developed into the great practical joke. The curious 



thing to note was the way in which Jock entered into 



the spirit of the thing, and how he improved and 



varied his methods. It was never certain what he 



would do ; sometimes it would be a wild romp, as 



it was that day ; at other times he would stalk the 



intruder in the open, much as a pointer approaches 



his birds in the last strides, and with eyes fixed steadily 



and mouth tightly pursed up, he would move straight 



at him with infinite slowness and deliberation until, 



the boy's nerve failed, and he turned and ran. At 



other times again he trotted out as if he had seen 



nothing, and then stopped suddenly. If the boy came 



on, Jock waited ; but if there was any sign of fear or 



hesitation, he lowered his head, humped up his 



shoulders as a stagey boxer does when he wants to 



appear ferocious and gave his head a kind of chuck 



forward, as if in the act of charging : this seldom failed 



to shake the intruder's nerve, and as soon as he turned 



or backed, the romp began. Still another trick was 



to make a round in the bush and come up behind 



unobserved, and then make a furious dash with rumbly 



gurgly growls ; the startled boy invariably dropped 



all he had, breaking into a series of fantastic capers 



and excited yells, to the huge delight of Jim and the 



others. 



211 



