knack ; he will still turn round three times 

 before lying down on your floor, just as his 

 remote ancestors turned to beat down the long 

 grass in which they slept ; he will still be 

 four- legged and faithful and mute and elo- 

 quent ; and still, at times, he will publicly 

 lick his paws into cleanliness. Yet there is 

 in a dog so delightful a faculty of obedience 

 and adaptability that, once released from his 

 detested chain and transferred from the yard 

 to the room, he will without an effort become 

 courteous, refined, and unobtrusive, respond- 

 ing to your moods with a sympathy which is 

 the very perfection of politeness. If you need 

 silence while you read or write he will lie for 

 hours without a movement. Give him a kind 

 word and he will lift his heavy eyebrows and 

 thump the floor with his grateful tail ; invite 

 him to your side and he will come and lay 

 his loyal head upon your knee ; bid him lie 

 down and he will lie down again without a 

 murmur to dream of glorious forays, the 

 while he 



14 



