156 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



"A. poor dependence if one lien's egg has to be di- 

 vided between four. Besides, what grain have you 

 for feeding your hen? And how about the fox will 

 he leave her in peace ?" 



"The pig is still left," was Jules 's final sugges- 

 tion. "But there we have the same difficulty as with 

 Emile 's sheep : once the animal is eaten, hunger over- 

 takes us again. I leave the choice to some one clev- 

 erer than I. ' ' 



"My choice," said Louis, "would be the dog, with- 

 out a moment's hesitation." 



"What a queer choice!" cried Emile. "The dog 

 will lick our hands in sign of friendship, he will bark 

 in front of the grotto, and he will gnaw the bone we 

 throw to him. But as there are no bones in our din- 

 ners of sloes, the poor beast will die of hunger with- 

 out being of any use to us whatever. ' ' 



"I can find use for him," replied Louis, "and it is 

 a great one. With the dog, game, even the nimblest 

 hare, will be caught in the chase, with such ambus- 

 cade as we can contrive on our part, and food will 

 be assured for all flesh for us, bones for the dog. 

 Accompanied by him, we can go wherever we please, 

 without the continual fear of being attacked any mo- 

 ment. If a wolf appears, our vigorous companion 

 will cope with it, seize it by the nape of the neck, and 

 give us a chance to lay on with the cudgel. ' ' 



"Louis is right," declared Jules; "I vote for the 

 dog." 



"The reasons Louis gives," Emile chimed in, "are 



