ANIMAL RENEGADES. 



175 



but an instinctive impulse, — one of those instincts which 

 a mortal danger awakens even in the human soul. Dogs 

 are half human, guided partly by principles and preju- 

 dices, but in critical moments they act rightly from in- 

 tuition. When the mastiff landed in the gully he picked 



WILD DOGS. 



himself up and stood still, rigidly still, facing the tramps, 

 who had scattered in every direction but now gathered 

 around him with ominous looks. They approached 

 within ten or twelve yards and then came to a halt, 

 watching the intruder with a steadfast gaze, silently, 

 and with a gradual contraction of their haunches, like 



