102 OUR DOGS. 



how grateful he was when his little friends would steal in 

 to sit with him, and &quot; poor &quot; him in his disgrace ! The pun 

 ishment so improved his principles that he let poultry alone 

 from that time, except now and then, when he would 

 snap up a young chick or turkey, in pure absence of mind, 

 before he really knew what he was about We had great 

 dread lest he should take to killing sheep, of which there 

 were many flocks in the neighborhood. A dog which 

 once kills sheep is a doomed beast, as much as a man 

 who has committed murder ; and if our Rover, through 

 the hunting blood that was in him, should once mistake 

 a sheep for a deer, and kill him, we should be obliged to 

 give him up to justice, all his good looks and good 

 qualities could not save him. 



What anxieties his training under this head cost us ! 

 When we were driving out along the clean sandy roads, 

 among the piny groves of Maine, it was half our enjoyment 

 to see Rover, with ears and tail wild and flying with excite 

 ment and enjoyment, bounding and barking, now on this side 

 the carriage, now on that, now darting through the woods 

 straight as an arrow, in his leaps after birds or squirrels, 

 and anon returning to trot obediently by the carriage, and, 

 wagging his tail, to ask applause for his performances. 

 But anon a flock of sheep appeared in a distant field, and 

 away would go Rover in full bow-wow, plunging in among 

 them, scattering them hither and thither in dire confusion. 



