XXII 

 THE LITTLE RED DOG 



SAUNTERING along a lane -like road between 

 Charterhouse Hinton and Woolverton, in the West 

 Country, I spied a small red dog trotting along 

 some distance behind me. He was in the middle 

 of the road, but seeing that he was observed he 

 sheered off to the other side, and when nearly 

 abreast of me paused suspiciously, sniffed the air 

 to get the exact smell, then made a dash past, and 

 after going about twenty or thirty yards full speed, 

 dropped once more into his travelling trot, to 

 vanish from sight at the next bend in the road. 



Though alone, I laughed, for he was a very old 

 acquaintance of mine. I knew him well, although 

 he did not know me, and regarding me as a stranger 

 he very naturally associated my appearance with 

 that well-aimed stone or half -brick which had 

 doubtless registered an impression on his small 

 brain. I knew him because he is a common type, 

 widely distributed on the earth; I doubt if there 

 are many countries where you will not meet him 

 a degenerate or dwarf variety of the universal 

 cur, smaller than a fox-terrier and shorter-legged; 



