IO4 OUR DOGS. 



shake under him. Rover never could resist the temptation 

 to run and bark, and race with so lively an antagonist ; 

 and, to say the truth, John and Willy were somewhat of 

 his mind, so that, though they were directed to catch 

 and hinder him, they entered so warmly into his own feel- 

 ings that they never succeeded in breaking up the habit. 

 Every day when the distant whistle was heard, away would 

 go Rover, out of the door or through the window, no 

 matter which, race down to meet the cars, couch down 

 on the track in front of them, barking with all his might, 

 as if it were only a fellow-dog, and when they came so 

 near that escape seemed utterly impossible, he would lie 

 flat down between the rails and suffer the whole train to 

 pass over him, and then jump up and bark, full of glee, in 

 the rear. Sometimes he varied this performance more dan- 

 gerously by jumping dut full tilt between two middle cars 

 when the train had passed half-way over him. Everybody 

 predicted, of course, that he would be killed or maimed, and 

 the loss of a paw, or of his fine, saucy tail, was the least 

 of the dreadful things which were prophesied about him. 

 But Rover lived and throve in his imprudent courses not- 

 withstanding. 



The engineers and firemen, who began by throwing sticks 

 of wood and bits of coal at him, at last were quite sub- 

 dued by his successful impudence, and came to consider 

 him as a regular institution of the railroad, and, if any 



