CH. III.] Come-by-Chance. 45 



of her character. For seven years she has 

 been the support of my business, and I can 

 safely say she has caused the death of more 

 rats than all my other dogs put together. I 

 say caused, for she is slow at killing and leaves 

 this matter of detail to younger hands. If 

 another dog is not near she will catch a rat 

 and even kill it ; but she has a soft mouth, 

 and all the other dogs, except quite the 

 youngest, know this, and, against the rule, will 

 always dash in when she has a rat in her 

 mouth and take it from her, and she gives it 

 up without a struggle. 



No, her forte is to find a rat. She is 

 always in and out, up the bank, through the 

 hedge, down the bank ; not a tuft of grass 

 escapes her, and she would hunt down each 

 side of Regent Street and in and out of the 

 carriages if she found herself there. She 

 lives hunting. Nothing ever escapes her; 

 one sniff at the deepest and most turn-about 



