A BLANK FISHING DAY. 1 09 



we speedily forgot our fatigue and disappointment. 

 Antony's report of the health of his canine patient was 

 satisfactory. The animal's stomach had been dis- 

 ordered, and the otter-hunter's remedies were promptly 

 administered, and successful. My cousin had a dread 

 of madness breaking out in his kennel ; and from his 

 melancholy experience of the fearful consequences of 

 neglect, I do not marvel that on the first symptom of 

 loss of appetite or abated spirits, he forthwith causes 

 the suspected dog to be removed, and places him under 

 a strict surveillance. 



Our conversation after dinner naturally turned upon 

 the indisposition of the setter. " You may think, my 

 dear Frank," said my cousin, " that I carry my appre- 

 hensions of the slightest illness in my dogs to a ridiculous 

 and unnecessary length ; but when I tell you that I 

 have witnessed the fatal course of hydrophobia, in the 

 human as well as the brute victim, you may then con- 

 ceive the horror I feel when anything recalls to my 

 memory this hopeless malady. 



" During my first season at the Dublin University, 

 I was invited to pass a short vacation with a relative of 

 my mother. He lived in the south of Ireland, in an 

 ancient family mansion-house, situated in the mountains, 

 and at a considerable distance from the mail-coach 

 road. 



" This gentleman was many years older than I. He 

 had an only sister, a girl of sixteen, beautiful and accom- 

 plished ; at the period of my visit she was still at school, 

 but was to finally leave it, as my host informed me, 

 at Midsummer. 



" Never was there a more perfect specimen of primi- 

 tive Milesian life, than that which the domicile of my 



