CHARACTER OF THE DOG. 33 



dote, "the dog would have sunk down through 

 the bricks. It was laughable to notice the rueful 

 countenance of the scapegrace, as he crouched 

 on the pavement, with a slight twitch of his tail, 

 one eye fixed imploringly on me, and the other 

 turned towards the boy, over whose chubby face 

 was beginning to steal the conviction that they 

 two must part. The affair reminded me strongly, 

 at the moment, of two line's in one of Scott's 

 border ballads, which may thus be parodied : 



The conscious cur fell to the ground, 



And inly muttered, 'found! found! found !' " 



It is now some years since Mart slipped his 

 collar in toto, for he continued in his vagrant 

 habits to the last, at one time attaching himself 

 to a rigger in Reed street, and upon another to 

 a recruiting sergeant of marines. Influenced 

 by his impatience of restraint, he may, possibly, 

 have gone off to join the Mormons. 



His master, with a pertinacity almost as hu- 

 morous, insists upon it that he will yet turn up, 

 when least expected, and is yearly in the habit 

 of visiting the menagerie, in the hopes of finding 

 him attached to a caravan. 



This dog was of hardy constitution, a great 

 ranger, and uniformly travelled a fast gait. 



Dogs are a superstitious race. We have seen 



