76 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



A timely alarm Guiding the blind. 



in the evening. A few nights after this order, 

 the servant accidentally left the door open for a 

 few minutes, and the dog escaped to pursue his 

 nightly perambulations. His absence was un- 

 discovered by any of the family till about three 

 o'clock in the morning, when a tremendous noise 

 of the barking of dogs alarmed the farmer, \vho 

 instantly jumped out of bed, reached his fire- 

 arms, and came down stairs; when, to his great 

 astonishment, he found all his ducks tied toge- 

 ther by the legs, and writhing about on the 

 ground. It seems, the. spaniel, on returning 

 from his night's diversiong^aped over the fence, 

 and discovered a thief in ure act of stealing poul- 

 try from the hen-house. He instantly laid down 

 the dead game, and, by barking, alarmed the 

 other dogs, and was thus the means of savin t, the 

 yard from being robbed. The farmer fired at 

 the villain, but without effect, as he had nearly 

 cleared the premises when he entered the yard. 



The care of the dog in directing the steps of 

 the blind, is highly deserving of notice. There 

 are few persons who have not seen some of these 

 unfortunate objects thus guided through the 

 winding streets of a town or city, to the spot 

 where they are to supplicate charity of pas- 

 sengers. Mr. Ray, in his Synopsis of Quadru- 

 peds, informs us of a blind beggar who was thus 

 led through the streets of Rome by a middle- 

 sized dog. This animal besides leading his mas- 

 ter in such a manner as to protect him from ail 



