WRONG AND UNCERTAIN ANSWERS 117 



case, or on some days she may be useless both alone and 

 before company. There have been times when she 

 has been delightful and engaging in every way till 

 work was mentioned . . . when the whole expression 

 of her face would change, and she would assume her 

 " stupid look," deliberately, so it would seem, rapping 

 out the simplest answer wrongly ! The very act of 

 rapping is at such times a mere careless dragging of her 

 paw as though it had nothing to do with the rest of 

 her body. Pleading, threats, the nicest of tit-bits 

 all are then unavailing, and she remains seemingly 

 idiotic the mere sight of her being enough to drive 

 one wild ! for low be it spoken it is the sheerest 

 impudence \ \ \ Indeed, the visitor who does not know 

 her, and happens to " strike " on one of these bad days, 

 would have to be dowered with more than his share of 

 amiability and imagination, should he be able to ment- 

 ally visualize anything approaching " brilliant accom- 

 plishments " in the face of one of these fiascos.' 

 Whether these " turns " be due to sudden obstinacy, to 

 some feeling of injury inflicted either by myself or the 

 onlooker to what on earth such tempers be due I 

 cannot tell ! but I have put up with this sort of thing 

 for two hours at a stretch sometimes, keeping my 

 self-control till at length I have had to rush out of the 

 room relinquishing every hope of victory for that day, 

 and with a feeling of what seemed almost hatred against 

 this unreasonable beast I although I must say that such 

 feelings do not last very long for I am not a good 

 " hater " and then . . . Lola would soon try to 

 " make it up again " in some touching way ! 



I may say that for the first four months she worked 

 splendidly before strangers, and quite as well with me, 

 but from that time onward her work was equally 

 uncertain both in the presence of others and when 



9 



