18 BRUNO 



We were extremely troubled at this discovery, 

 and Julius said, 



" Our life is too quiet for him. His instincts 

 are all for chasing something. Our little prom- 

 enades are but an aggravation to a dog who 

 is longing to stretch his legs over miles of 

 country." 



We knew he must go at least six miles to 

 find sheep. 



For the first time we now began seriously to 

 consider the idea of giving Bruno away. 



A young hunter, whom we will call Mr. 

 Nimrod, had long been wanting him. He told 

 us it was a shame to turn such a splendid fellow 

 into a drawing-room dog. He would hold forth 

 indefinitely on Bruno's points, especially certain 

 extra toes on his various legs. He said a dog 

 with such toes was built for a " lightning-ex- 

 press " runner, and that it was outraging nature 

 to try to keep him cooped up in a village lot. 

 After many discussions we at last decided we 

 ought to give him up to the life for which he 

 so evidently longed. 



We were about to move into the house we 

 had been building, and we thought the best way 

 to make the dog-transfer would be for Julius 

 to take him to Mr. Nimrod's the last day before 



