CHAPTER XLIII 

 THE BULLDOG 



THE national dog of England, supposed to be typical 

 of British pluck, is the Bulldog, whose grim and 

 somewhat forbidding features conceal a heart capable 

 tff the utmost devotion. That curiously wrinkled and 

 broken-up face is as honest as it is ugly, and one 

 could wish for no more faithful guard or con- 

 siderate friend of the family than the Bulldog. True, 

 he snores and snorts in a manner that is not always 

 pleasant in a room, but he has so many beautiful 

 qualities that we forgive him these shortcomings. 

 It is a rare thing to find a bad-tempered Bulldog, 

 and when one once becomes attached to you there 

 are no bounds to his devotion. He is not aggressive, 

 but woe betide the person who raises a hand against 

 his master or mistress ! It is no wonder that this 

 rugged fellow is one of the most popular, of the 

 whole of the canine race. It was a fashion at one 

 time for every young blood to have a Bulldog or 

 a Bull Terrier. To-day the ladies have stepped into 

 the arena, and some of the most successful breeders 

 and exhibitors belong to the fair sex. For some 

 reason or other, literary men and artists seem to 

 have had a penchant for the Bulldog, and he has 



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