LIFE OF MYTTON. 51 



" for he will tear you in pieces if you do." This 

 was enough for Mytton ; so pulling a silk hand- 

 kerchief out of the pocket of a friend, and lapping 

 it around his left hand, he advanced with it ex- 

 tended towards the dog, who immediately seized 

 it with his mouth. Reader— I fancy I see you 

 shudder ! but don't be alarmed ; and when you 

 hear the sequel, perhaps you will think that the 

 doe mieht have been the greater sufferer of the 

 two, provided blood had been drawn. Catching 

 him by the back of the neck, however, with his 

 right hand, Mytton instantly pinned the animal by 

 the nose with his teeth ; * and getting the other 

 hand at liberty, so pummelled his opponent that he 

 had scarcely any life left in him. As might be 

 expected, the dog never afterwards liked the look 

 of his brother bull-dog or even a red coat, but 

 slunk into his kennel on the approach of either one 

 or the other. 



The terms good-natured and good-tempered are 

 very often confounded by being indiscriminately 

 applied to the same person or animal, whereas they 



• The first mention of Mr. Mytton's name in any of Nimrod's writ- 

 ings is when, after Chester race week, he went back to Halston with his 

 friend, that "hard-riding, hard-dining, hard-going, hard-striking, hard- 

 biting, thorough-bred Briton ; " the hard-biting epithet having its appli- 

 cation in this anecdote. 



