356 Life and Immortality. 



tumult in the hennery, accompanied by loud noises, the 

 command, " Go, see what the trouble is ! " was performed 

 to the very letter, and the trouble, if any, was speedily 

 announced by a series of loud, sharp, quick barks, which soon 

 brought some one or more members of the family to the 

 scene of disorder. If nothing unusual was happening, Lion 

 would return to the house in a slow, leisurely way, and by 

 his looks convey, as clearly as man could do it, the utter 

 needlessness of the command. 



Not only is the dog capable of understanding many 

 things that are said to him, but is even capable of forestall- 

 ing one's wishes. Part of one of the writer's vacations was 

 spent in a small country town not very remote from Phila- 

 delphia. There was in the family with whom he boarded a 

 dog called Prince. He was a very great favorite, and was 

 once noted for his lively, vivacious disposition and jolly man- 

 ners. But at the time of my introduction to him, he seemed to 

 be suffering from some bodily affliction, which had not only 

 taken away his appetite for food, but the very animus of his 

 being. Upon inquiry I learned that the master of the house, 

 to whom Prince was so deeply attached, had died the year 

 before, and that the dog had taken his death so completely 

 to heart that he had lost all of his former vivacity. He 

 refused all food, often going for days without taking a single 

 mouthful. Life seemed to have lost for him all its charms. 

 Sad and dejected he would lie upon the porch-floor or ground, 

 seemingly unconscious of everything and everybody. That 

 he was slowly dying seemed evident to all. But a change 

 from our first interview appeared to come over the animal. 

 From some cause or other, he had taken quite a fancy to 

 me. He would greet me with considerable friendliness when 

 I would come down in the morning, and always seemed glad 

 to be in my presence. My first business, on coming down- 

 stairs, was to go for the newspaper, which was always to be 

 found inside the yard, some thirty steps from the house. I 

 would then sit down upon the porch and read it, but Prince 



