CH. III.] Grindums First Rat. 63 



him and stroke his face softly, when he will 

 quickly recover himself. I don't know 'vhat 

 will happen when Grindum " blinks his last," 

 but the boy begins to follow me about and 

 seems to cling to me, and by that time I hope 

 I shall be so well liked by him that I may 

 take Grindum's place. 



Just two words more about Grindum and 

 I have done. One is that the first time 

 Grindum caught a rat, he picked it up by its 

 hind leg, and the rat made its teeth meet 

 through his nose. He softly put the rat 

 down and it escaped, and I made my sides 

 ache and greatly astonished all the other 

 dogs by laughing at this great soft beast as 

 he sat on his haunches licking the blood as it 

 trickled from his nose, and staring up into 

 the sky with a far-off vacant look, blinking 

 worse than ever. 



The other word is this. Though Grindum 

 is a bull-dog with an awful " Crush your 



