FOUNDER OF HIS RACE 17 



street, carpeted with a patchwork of sifting sunshine and 

 cool shadow. 



Over garden fences he could see green, succulent box- 

 hedges and one day, when he found a gate open, he 

 trotted boldly in to get a taste ! 



Scarcely had be begun to nibble when a dog dashed 

 round the corner of the house, a boy at his heels. When 

 the latter caught sight of the intruder he gave a whoop 

 and urged the dog to nip at True's feet. The colt, 

 startled, made a quick movement of self-protection with 

 his hard little heels and struck the dog on the head, ef- 

 fectually silencing his bark and rolling him over in the 

 dirt. 



A rock hit the colt's side, but he did not tarry ; ex- 

 citedly, he plunged out of the open gate and raced down 

 the road after his mother, now full half mile away. The 

 odor of box was ever after associated, disagreeably, 

 with boys and dogs in his mind. 



When he related the incident to his friend, Caesar, 

 the yellow stable cat, the latter purred conviction and 

 confided that for untold generations dogs had been the 

 sworn enemies of his family. 



'Tt may^ be possible for a boy, occasionally, to be po- 

 lite and gentle ; I do not know," mewed the cat. ''But as 

 for dogs ! Well, you must unsheath your claws and arch 

 your back on sight!" 



Caesar was an independent cat of wide experience and 

 had travelled and lived in many barns ; his opinion, 

 therefore, had weight with True. One day, whilst rub- 

 bing against the colt's leg, in his affectionate way, he 

 remarked that if it had not been for Gipsey and True 

 he would long since have returned to his last barn-home, 

 where the mice had a sweeter flavor on account of a 

 careless housewife who often left her cheese-box open. 



"Besides," he added, strutting about and waving his 



