88 HOUNDS 



household tabby, yet few can resist the 

 sensation of fondness for the lion's cub, or 

 puss's kittens. Their helplessness as well as 

 the beauty and jolly roundness of the little 

 things go to our heart ; and, it may be, the 

 pity that is akin to love affects us, when we 

 think of the battle of life that lies before 

 these innocents. I confess to these senti- 

 ments when I watch the little black, white, 

 and tan whelps lying beside the fond mother 

 in the paddock by the kennels. How 

 blissfully ignorant these are of the im- 

 mediate future before them, and of what 

 they have to go through before education 

 fits them for their glorious calling ! In a 

 few weeks they will be taken from the 

 sheltering care of the dam and sent to 

 distant walks, their little sides red and sore 



