60 Gentleman Jack 



received no injury. But his fine sensibilities detected 

 my anxiety and seriousness, and he seemed to wonder 

 at it. Poor fellow ! how hard he tried to amuse and 

 divert me ! The ordinary forms of sport were 

 attempted, and then he invented new diversions. At 

 one time he would try a species of ' sleight of hand ' 

 by throwing a bone in the air and apparently catching 

 it in his mouth as it came down, but in reality 

 thrusting it under his blanket so quickly I could 

 scarcely detect the movement. This seemed to give 

 him much amusement, and I laughed heartily over 

 it. But my very anxiety made me serious, and much 

 of my time was spent in observing him. And yet 

 his happy nature seemed to be unchanged. Surely, I 

 thought, the seeds of evil could not be germinating 

 in his blood. 



But one day I detected a change. His bright 

 eyes had grown listless, and his active body seemed 

 to take on unwonted languor. He became morose, 

 and unmindful of things about him. Occasionally 

 he would start at the sound of my voice, and I 

 would catch a momentary glimpse of the old nature ; 

 but it would soon vanish, like the sun behind a 



