JUSTICE AND ANGER 39 



The sheep and cattle nose down in scanty grazing take 

 what lies in their way without grabbing at their neighbour's 

 greener tuft, the birds follow the plough expectant of food 

 without a hustle, the bee brimming over with almost 

 fanatical thirst for honey does not quarrel with his fellow, 

 but yields to the most infinitesimal priority of possession in 

 flower. 



It is the squirrel, the Epicurean of wild life, who scolds 

 at the cock pheasant which ventures to intrude on the wind- 

 falls of his chestnut tree ; who scolds even man for a like 

 liberty. 



But does not this, perhaps, imply that sense of possession 

 which cannot exist without a sense of justice and injustice ; 

 in other words without a sense of duty not only in a possessor 

 but in his environment of those who do not possess .? 



As an instance of this abstract sense, a dachshund on his 

 way upstairs to bed stopped before the dogs' water bowl in 

 the hall, and by steadfast refusal to go on showed me it was 

 empty. Thinking he was thirsty I filled it, whereupon he 

 quietly proceeded on his way after a look which said as plain 

 as words could say — " Careless people, those servants ; sup- 

 posing I had wanted water in the night .? " 



He has done this many times, and it would be difficult 

 to beat this example of an intelligent recognition of a code 

 of right conduct in an animal and his world ; a recognition 

 which surely implies a sense of justice. 



