82 HOUNDS 



approaches Why te- Melville's description of 

 Bachelor 



On the straightest of legs and the roundest of feet, 

 With ribs like a frigate his timbers to meet, 

 With a fashion and fling and a form so complete, 

 That to see him dance over the flags is a treat. 



But fashion and form without nose are in vain, 

 And in March or mid-winter, storm, sunshine or rain, 

 When the line has been fouled, or the sheep leave a stain, 

 His fox he accounts for again and again. 



Where the fallows are dry, where manure has been thrown, 

 With a storm in the air, with the ground like a stone, 

 When we're all in a muddle, beat, baffled, and blown, 

 See ! Bachelor has it ! Bill, let him alone ! 



I once heard of a man, who was walking 

 with his dog (a crop-eared cur, with a stump 

 of a tail), being asked by a passer-by, " What 

 do you call your dog ? " The owner replied, 

 " Well, sir, he was a grey-hound, and we 

 called him ' Fly,' but we cropped his loogs 



