212 DOGS 



a mistake to bring a bull-terrier, bred in the slums 

 and trained to fly at all and sundry, into the bosom 

 of a peaceful family. Probably the pet tabby would 

 be in tatters before she knew where she w^as. But 

 an honest sporting dog, even with cat-chevying 

 propensities, is prompt to recognise the changed 

 situation. At first there is armed and suspicious 

 neutrality. The cat's back goes up at a moment's 

 notice ; the dog keeps his cold grey eye on her, 

 with lips drawn back for a snarl and teeth ready 

 for a snap. But in a very few days things settle 

 down, and they are not only friends, but on the 

 footing of lovers. The cat, with her insidious ways, 

 has a fancy for rubbing up against anything warm, 

 as all dogs delight in being gently rubbed down. 

 I have a misanthropical black terrier, who long 

 turned a cold shoulder to feline advances and 

 suggestions of soft caresses. But gentle persever- 

 ance got the better of him at last, and now he and 

 his chum are inseparable. Sometimes, it is true, 

 like all spoiled members of the rougher sex, he 

 finds her endearments a bore, and growls a warn- 

 ing that he is not in the humour. Even when he 

 shows his teeth, she seems rather to like it, for she 

 knows it is his manner rather than his mind. In 

 a few minutes, you hear her again on the full purr, 

 and his tail is being won to a wag, as she arches 

 herself under his chin, with her own tail in the air. 

 Yet that terrier is a hereditary cat-hunter, and when 

 we take our walks abroad, I am never altogether easy. 

 Other dogs, as a rule, give chase as a matter of 



