50 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



would rather meet a bear in a green lane than a 

 Balaam. We have often encountered the assaults 

 of these brutes, or, rather, their attempts to force 

 their way by Charles, whose heavy thong they 

 appeared to think lightly of ; and sometimes he was 

 obliged to use the iron handle on their frontispiece, 

 and fell them to the earth, to stop them in their 

 mad career. At their walks in the country, young 

 hounds have been accustomed to meet with — and 

 chat with in their own dog language — sheep-dogs 

 and cur-dogs of all descriptions, and it never entered 

 into their imaginations then to act otherwise than 

 courteously towards them ; but as soon as they 

 have become occupiers of their large house — the 

 kennel — they appear instigated by a fell desire to 

 shed the blood of their former companions. Should 

 Shag or little Yiper cross their path when out at 

 exercise, it is a difficult matter to stop them from 

 giving dhase, and Jem's whipcord is called into 

 play, with certain objurgations of "War cur-dog ! '' 

 Full of young blood and high spirits, they are like 

 a lot of schoolboys, ripe for any fun and mischief; 

 and their nature prompting them to run something, 

 they will have a fling at any living creature which 

 comes within their view. There is a better cure for 

 this rebellious outbreak than whipcord — exercise, 

 and plenty of it. Too much they cannot have, and 

 it is far wiser to work off their superfluities by this 

 course than any other. The desire for running 

 cur-dogs may be effectually checked by taking them 

 through neighbouring villages, where they are gene- 

 rally seen in large numbers and of every variety ; 



