IN BOOKS AND REAL LIFE 213 



course, but as they neither wish nor hope to have 

 a worry, no harm is done. Even if the cat, in 

 place of bolting, turns to bay, the dog does not 

 turn jest to earnest. Jack knew as well as any of 

 them that he was expected to keep the peace, and 

 for days he would doggedly resist temptation. 

 Then the worrying demon would get the better 

 of him : he would break out like a wild Scandinavian 

 berserker or a Malay running amuck ; sometimes 

 he showed the subtlety of the savage Red Indian. 

 When he meant mischief most, he managed matters 

 quietly. He saw a sleek pussy imprudently sunning 

 herself some yards from the threshold of her happy 

 home. He dropped behind, let his master get well 

 ahead, and then deliberately stalked his unsuspect- 

 ing victim. A gurgle in the throat he gripped, a 

 crack of the backbone, and he resumed his trot 

 as if nothing had happened. There was no break- 

 ing him of the vice, and yet he had so many sterling 

 qualities that I could not make up my mind to 

 part with him. For myself, I take to cats almost 

 as kindly as to dogs, and I should have felt more 

 deeply for bereaved cottagers had they not been 

 so easily consoled with half-crowns. All the same, 

 he was a costly dog. 



...... 



In towns, as I said, you must keep the dog 

 under difficulties, and do the best you can, with 

 the terror of losing him. If the city dog does 

 not sicken, he loses flesh and spirit, and if you 

 are really attached to him, you should give him 



