THE GREAT DANE. 54.5 



to allow them to look up in his eyes and try to pull themselves over his back, 

 was a position I never knew an English Mastiff to assume. 



While debating in my mind what kind of a strain, breed, or type of dog it 

 was, I suddenly heard a growl; the dog " positioned" himself firmly where he 

 was standing, about quarter way across the road , threw his head up, curved 

 his neck, and looked a very Vulcan of courage, immobility, and defiance 

 as he gazed up the road. The children, meantime, had rushed up to him, 

 clinging around his neck and fore shoulders. The scene was worthy the brush 

 of well, I doubt if there ever lived an artist capable of transferring that life- 

 picture to canvas. 



The cause of all the commotion was the sudden appearance of two tramps, 

 who had a large, vicious-looking specimen of a fice dog with them. Talk 

 about Indians stealthily stealing by the foe! The way those tramps and their 

 dog " slid" to the extreme farther side of the road, and " scooted " by in the 

 most abject terror, double discounted them, the protector of the children never 

 moving a foot the while, his head only turning in line with the tramps, and a 

 low roar issuing from his mouth when the tramps leaped over a side fence and 

 disappeared. 



Then the children fairly hugged and caressed the dog, whose position, 

 indicative of every nerve on tension, was instantly changed to one of -'Let's 

 continue our romp," proving to me- that such a thought as fear never entered 

 his mind. I determined to learn what breed of dog it was, and to become the 

 owner of one. I entered the garden walk to my right, and soon ascertained 

 that the dog was a Great Dane, and that five hundred dollars wouldn't buy 

 him from his owner if offered. 



I have since become the owner of a very good specimen of the breed; 

 and while it does not score quite as high as the recent importations, still it 

 possesses every merit and characteristic of the breed of Great Danes, and 

 nothing could induce me to again own an English Mastiff while it is possible 

 to own a Great Dane. 



The following by Mr. Biego, honorable secretary of 

 the Great Dane Club of England, referring to the above, 

 appeared in an English sporting paper on November 2, 



1889: 



I have read with interest a letter in the American Field of the 14th ultimo, 

 signed " Wisp," and headed " Great Danes versus Mastiffs." Without enter- 

 ing into comparative merits of the two breeds, both of which I have kept, I 

 will at once proceed to confirm the generous character and sagacity of the 

 Great Dane, as evinced by the following cases among others which have come 

 under my notice: One of my relatives, a farmer in Spain, owned a mill some 

 three miles from town, and it was the miller's practice to call daily for the 

 wheat, which was conveyed on mules to the mill long after nightfall. To 

 insure the miller against possible attack by depredators, one of the house- 

 guards, a Great Dane, without apparently any training, would take upon 

 himself to accompany the miller and his cargo to the mill, and the dog would 

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