ANIMAL RENEGADES. jgj 



her up in the stable and left her alone with her own pup- 

 pies, but after an hour or so, one boy slipped a bag over 

 her head while another substituted a young mastiff for 

 one of the perritos, and so on, till she had five change- 

 lings and three legitimate puppies. The perra was as 

 snappish as a trap-caught panther, yelled, howled, and 

 made desperate attempts to break away ; but the main 

 point was reached, she suckled the puppies, both her 

 own and the mastiff's; nay, like the foster-mothers of 

 young cuckoos, she seemed rather partial to the big sub- 

 stitutes. After a week or two her temper, too, improved ; 

 and when the puppies began to waddle around with open 

 eyes she seemed reconciled to her captivity, as long as 

 the youngsters did not crawl out of reach. But when 

 they did, she often jumped after them with force enough 

 almost to break the strap, and on one occasion not only 

 almost, but quite, enough, for when the door was opened 

 she darted out, and, clearing the fence with a single 

 bound, whisked across the field and disappeared in the 

 adjoining chaparral. She must have been very anxious 

 to get away, for in the floor of the stable, close behind the 

 door, she had dug a hole by tearing out a loose plank and 

 excavating the stamped loam underneath, first outward 

 and then upward, so far up that another night's work 

 would have liberated her anyhow. She had answered 

 the purpose of her capturers, though ; the puppies were 

 a month old and had begun to eat alone : so the captain 

 detailed a boy to feed them, and said no more about it. 



13 



