CHARACTER OF THE DOG. 11 



pike, cocked his ears, perhaps with concern at 

 the pitiful condition to which the unfortunate 

 custodian of the threshold was reduced. No 

 sooner had the sullen eyes of the latter fallen 

 upon the free and life-like figure of Beppo, than, 

 uttering a savage growl, he flew from the ele- 

 vated sidew-alk full at the other's throat, pitching 

 out the invalid, overturning the Tom Thumb 

 tilbury, and scouring along the road after the 

 innocent cause of the catastrophe, who, upon 

 being thus charged, as it were, by a chariot, fled 

 as if death were at his heels. Whether, in this 

 case, the grocer's dog imagined that he detected 

 something quizzical in the expression of the set- 

 ter's face, or was merely infuriated at the diffe- 

 rence of their respective conditions at the moment, 

 is a matter of doubt. The effect produced, how- 

 ever, was solely attributable to the presence of 

 the stranger's dog, since it appeared that the boy 

 had been daily in the habit of airing himself in 

 this way for some time previous. The fugitive 

 took sanctuary with our jovial host of the But- 

 tonwood, and the assailant, it concerns us to state, 

 received a severe threshing for his indirect 

 though outrageous exertions in favor of canine 

 freedom. 



Dogs have been known to form offensive and 



